COURT HEARS OF ‘HORRIFIC INJURIES’ AFTER COLLISSION Motorist too late when he tried to pay fine

JUDGE David Kennedy said Wicklow Circuit Court would have been a more suitable jurisdiction for a case in which a motorist driving on the wrong side of the road ploughed into a car, causing serious injuries to four people.

Wayde O’Brien of 12 Park Na Sillogue, Enniskerry, appeared before Bray District Court facing a number of offences including driving, drugs and possession of an offensive weapon charges.

Before handing down sentence last Thursday, Judge Kennedy addressed the court and said he had tried to refuse jurisdiction because of the seriousness of the incident but that choice hadn’t been open to him.

Judge Kennedy felt that Wicklow Circuit Court would have been the more appropriate jurisdiction ‘considering the horrific injuries suffered as a consequence.’

On August 13, 2016, a Skoda being driven by Wayde O’Brien was travelling at speed on the wrong side of the road when it collided head-on with another vehicle on the Monastery Road in Enniskerry.

The three passengers in the other vehicle suffered multiple injuries, including fractured vertebrae, fractured sternums and various broken bones and fractures. Some of the victims had to be cut from the wreckage and one woman was rushed to the surgical unit so she could be operated on straight away.

Another passenger experienced a potentially life-threatening perforated bowel and spent 12 days in hospital. Some of the other patients hospitalised because of the collision were placed in intensive care.

A passenger travelling in the car driven by O’Brien suffered a broken leg.

In hospital, Wayde O’Brien refused to provide a sample to the gardaí. Empty beer cans were found in the car he was driving.

The offences were committed while he was on bail.

On April 21, Wayde O’Brien was observed driving by gardaí but he reversed down a lane after spotting them and ended up crashing into a wall. There was a strong smell of cannabis from him at the garda station and he was searched. A small amount of cannabis was found in his possession for personal use.

On April 20, at Bray District Court the defendant was searched, before being placed in a cell, because there was a strong smell of cannabis on his breath. €20 worth was found in his possession.

On May 6, 2017, at St Patrick’s Square, Bray, Wayde O’Brien was observed driving into a cul-de-sac at speed. Gardaí approached the car and found a yellow Stanley knife in one of the vehicle’s door pockets.

On March 11, he was stopped on the Convent Road, Bray, and was later charged with dangerous driving, driving a dangerously defective vehicle and having two bald tyres.

On January 10, during a search of his home at 12 Park Na Sillogue, white powder was recovered. It was sent for testing and was confirmed as cocaine worth €250.

Wayde O’Brien is already serving a sentence for unrelated matters and wasn’t due for release until August of 2018. He has 126 prior convictions, including four for dangerous driving and six for no insurance.

For the incident on August 13, he was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment for dangerous driving and disqualified from driving for 12 years. For failing to provide gardaí with a sample he was fined €1,000 and banned from driving for a further four years.

He received a six-month sentence for being in possession of cocaine.

For the dangerous driving charge from March 11 he was handed a five-month prison sentence and disqualified from driving for seven years.

He received three months for the charge of possession of a knife. He received a further six months’ imprisonment and a seven-year driving ban for driving without insurance on April 21.

All sentences are to run concurrently. A motorist issued with a fine for the non display of a tax disc attempted to pay but his cheque was returned and he was informed the 56-day deadline for payment had passed.

Garda Ciara Toolis stopped a vehicle being driven by Mark Courtney, 17 Priory Avenue, Eden Gate, Delgany, at 11.25 a.m. on the N11 slip road, Fassaroe, Bray, on January 30 2017.

His tax disc had expired in June of 2016.

Mr Courtney took to the witness box at Bray District Court last Thursday where he maintained that he only received the fixed charge notice on May 26.

He tried to pay the fine by cheque on May 29 but it was returned to him on May 30 when he was informed the time to pay had expired.

Mr Courtney said he didn’t get the notice until May 26, though he had been out of the country for ten days so it was possible it had arrived slightly earlier in the month. He hadn’t any previous difficulties with his post and had always intended to pay the fine.

Judge David Kennedy sad he was satisfied with Mr Courtney’s testimony and struck out the non display of a disc charge.