Teen driver rams garda van

Fifteen-year-old arrested after late night havoc on Killarney roads

THREE Killarney gardaí sustained injuries after a 15-year-old driver rammed into a garda van on St Patrick’s night while trying to escape arrest.

A local taxi driver rang Killarney Garda Station in the early hours of Sunday after spotting a car driving erratically in the Killarney area.

The teenager is believed to have taken his parents’ car without permission and was driving around the town at 5am on Sunday, just hours after the St Patrick’s day celebrations drew to a close.

The teenager is alleged to have been driving with excess alcohol and was arrested on suspicion of this offence when gardaí managed to stop him in the Ballycasheen area.

A local taxi driver, who first spotted the teenager driving erratically, was able to inform gardaí about the direction he was driving in and officers in a garda van then attempted to intercept him along his expected route.

Three members of the gardaí were in the van when, in an attempt to escape, the teenager is alleged to have driven straight at the garda van causing damage to the two vehicles at the Ballycasheen junction.

The three gardaí received minor injuries during the incident.

No-one else was in the car with the youth who is understood to have come into contact with gardaí previously.

He was released later that night and will be dealt with under the Juvenile Diversion Scheme, according to garda sources.