Criminal damage charge dismissed

MAN FINED FOR LEAVING SCENE AFTER HIS CAR HIT A ROAD SIGN

A man whose car hit a road sign was before Bray District Court recently charged with criminal damage as well as hit and run.

Judge David Kennedy dismissed the criminal damage charge against Jim Devlin, of 141 Killarney Heights, because there was no evidence that he intended to hit the sign.

Garda Paul Ryan told the court that he came across the scene on the Southern Cross on Friday, June 23, 2017. He saw a car mount the kerb and collide with the sign.

Mr Devlin would later tell Garda Ryan that he had applied the brake but it hadn’t worked and the car veered out of his control.

Two steel pillars holding the sign up were damaged.

Garda Ryan said that Mr Devlin was not there when he stopped. He said that the driver’s sister Annemarie Horan attended the scene 15 minutes later with her husband. She said that her brother had asked her to remove the vehicle.

Mr Devlin said that he had no phone with him. Another motorist had stopped and asked him was he OK, so he got a lift home and rang his sister and the tow truck.

Garda Ryan called to the house the next day and had a conversation with Mr Devlin. Mr Devlin said it was a cordial chat of over 20 minutes. Garda Ryan said he was there for perhaps 10 minutes. Mr Devlin said that the garda had told him not to worry, he may just have to pay for the damage.

The court heard that Mr Devlin was driving his wife’s car that evening. He had dropped his mother home after a visit when the crash occurred.

Solicitor Brendan Maloney said that under the legislation, the state would have to prove recklessness or intention in the criminal damage charge. Judge David Kennedy agreed and dismissed that matter.

Mr Maloney argued that the legislation said that the car must remain at the scene, but not necessarily the driver. The prosecution argued that only in the case of death or the driver being incapacitated, could another person take responsibility for the vehicle.

Judge Kennedy handed down a fine of €250.

(Back, from left) Fr Bernard Kennedy, Declan Curry, Rosie Ambrose, Emma King, Mary Conroy, (front) Ben Austin, Vincenzo Di Biasi, Euan Kocikowski, Simon Coleman, Jamie Smith, Tomás O’Conrí, Sophie Hassett, Rachel Farrell, Sophie Quinn, Isabel Gordon...