‘Worst exhibition of driving’ judge has encountered in years

EIGHT counts of dangerous driving were admitted by a man who endangered gardaí and GAA followers attending a Wexford v Kilkenny game after breaking up with his then girlfriend

The behaviour of 26-year-old Killian Saunders, Coolree, Forth Mountain, was described by Judge Brian O’Shea as ‘ the worst exhibition of driving I have heard in several years’.

The prosecution arose after Saunders was seen driving a 2006 Wexford registered van near Wexford Park at 4 p.m. on June 15 last.

Garda Trevor Buckley told how big match crowds had to take evasive action along Clonard Avenue as the van made off in defiance of a request to stop.

Saunders cut a corner as he continued on to reach the N25 at Moorefield where he was seen driving along the centre median, obliging other road uses to swerve out of his way.

He used the incorrect lane at Drinagh as he entered the roundabout at speed, heading back towards Wexford Town as motorists braked hard to let him pass.

At Whiterock, he overtook two vehicles as they approached bad bends, narrowly avoiding a collision.

A garda was on duty at the Father Sinnott roundabout and Saunders drove close to the officer before proceeding on to Pembroke Hill.

There he went through the roundabout on the wrong side of the road as others in the vicinity took evasive action.

And he then headed through Hayestown at speed in the face of oncoming traffic.

He made it to Ballindinas where the van eventually came to a stop and he attempted to flee.

However, he was apprehended and brought to the garda barracks where he gave a blood sample which proved positive for cannabis.

Solicitor Caitriona Walsh said that her client, an only child, had been on a downward spiral for a year before the events described by Garda Buckley.

He had found the break-up from his girlfriend traumatic, she observed, and he had also endured the death of a friend in tragic circumstances.

He had turned to drink and drugs, taking an overdose and cutting himself.

In April of last year, he presented himself to Wexford General only to be told that the psychiatric unit was closed.

He then looked for help at Waterford Regional where he was advised at the department of psychiatry that he was not suffering from any mental illness.

Ms Walsh accepted that it was fortunate no injury had been caused by his driving on the afternoon in question in June.

It appeared that he had been dabbling in cocaine, though he gave up the drug in September.

The court was told that he had found a full time job in the horse industry, keeping himself busy.

The defendant’s mother Susan Saunders was sworn in to say that her son stayed up drinking the night before the offences being considered.

She felt that he was demented, so she rang the gardaí and asked for help but he had driven away from the house.

He was now in much better form, she felt, but said that he still had a road to go.

A fine of €1,000 was imposed for drug driving. For dangerous driving Saunders was given a suspended three-month jail sentence. He was put off the road for five years.