Garda to face judge & jury over N7 deaths
Three gang members died after collision following car chase
A GARDA accused of endangering life during an incident where three men died in a collision must face trial before a Circuit Court judge and jury.
The Director of Public Prosecutions had directed charges after the Garda ombudsman investigated the fatal crash which claimed the life of three members of a gang based in Tallaght, South Dublin.
Dean Maguire, 29, Karl Freeman, 26, and Graham Taylor, 31, died instantly when a BMW car burst into flames following a head-on crash with a truck between Citywest and Baldonnel on July 7, 2021, while they were driving on the wrong side of the N7 fleeing gardai.
Garda John Francis Ryan, of Tallaght station, is accused of endangerment of life and three counts of dangerous driving.
He was first summonsed to Dublin District Court in June, and the matter was adjourned to October when the court ordered the prosecution to hand over the relevant material, including video footage.
The proceedings were listed again for
mention yesterday, but the officer was excused from attending because the hearing was for administrative purposes.
State solicitor Tom Conlon told Judge Michele Finan that “the DPP directed summary disposal on a guilty plea” in the District Court. Otherwise, it would go to the Circuit Court, which, on conviction, has broader sentencing powers.
Mr Conlon added: “The position is that a book of evidence is required.”
Judge Finan adjourned the case until June 26 so the prosecution could serve a book of evidence on the accused and to make an order sending him forward to the higher court because he was contesting the case.
The garda’s solicitor was present for the latest development in the case, and some relatives of the deceased watched from the public gallery.
The court has also ordered the media not to publish the garda’s address.
A coroner’s inquest into the three men’s deaths has already been opened but adjourned pending the outcome of the judicial process.