Man who led gardaí on a high speed chase gets licence back
A BALLYMOTE man who drove at speeds of up to 190km/h through several townlands in south Sligo in a high-speed chase that lasted 30 minutes followed by gardaí had the final third of his 10-year driving ban lifted at Monday’s Sligo Circuit Court.
The ban was imposed on 42-year-old Kevin Lavin, Corraweelin, Ballymote, at Sligo Circuit Court in 2014 after he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving at Ballymote Road, Tubbercurry, and Cloonamahon, Tubbercurry, on November 12, 2009.
The defendant was also given 240 hours’ community service in lieu of six months in jail.
Lavin was also given a two-year jail sentence suspended for two years for criminal damage.
And for failing to provide gardaí with a sample in a suspected drunk driving case, he was jailed for six months suspended for 12 months with a concurrent four-year driving ban. Sentencing the defendant in 2014, Judge Tony Hunt said: “The driving during the 20km chase wouldn’t be seen on Formula One on Sky Sports.” He added: “It’s important we don’t meet see other again in these circumstances or he’ll be going out the side door.”
At last Monday’s Sligo Circuit Court, defence counsel Keith O’Grady, instructed by solicitor William Henry, said the defendant had served two thirds of his sentence last month and was entitled to apply for a reduction of the final third of that sentence.
The court could use its discretion in this matter.
Mr O’Grady said a letter from Ballymote Superintendent Padraig Burke said gardaí had no objection to the application but the defendant must undertake not to repeat his actions and gardaí in Ballymote would not tolerate any further incidents. Sergeant Brian Lee told the court that Garda Derek Lynott was in a marked patrol car in Tubbercurry and noticed a Volkswagen Passat travelling at speed around 12.30am on November 12, 2009.
He decided to follow the vehicle, which did not stop.
For 30 minutes the defendant drove through a number of townlands at speeds of up to 190km/h.
Other garda units were called in an attempt to halt the defendant, who only came to a stop when he crashed into an unmarked patrol that contained Sergeant Cathal Duffy and Garda Trevor McNicholas.
The patrol car was turned around 180 degrees by the impact of the collision. Nobody was hurt but there was extensive damage to the patrol car and the defendant’s car.
Sergeant Lee added that the defendant also drove at speeds of up to 120km/h through narrow roads and villages for about 20km.
He drove at great speed over bumps and one occasion a car coming in the opposite direction almost went off the road trying to avoid Lavin.
It was a case of dangerous driving that lasted up to half an hour.
When arrested he refused to give a breath sample.
At the time of his arrest, he had previous convictions under the Road Traffic Act, the court was told.
He had no subsequent convictions since 2014.
The previous convictions included a conviction for failing to remain at the scene in a hit-and-run accident in 2003. In 2002 he was banned for four years for road traffic matters including a one-year ban for drunk driving in 2002. Kevin Lavin told the court he was a separated father of six, four with his ex-wife in Ireland and two from a previous relationship in the UK
He was a farmer, who lived alone five miles from any town.
His ex-wife and four children lived 20 miles away and he had a good relationship with them. His children were aged four, six, eight and nine.
He had been off the road for over six years and his wife brought his children to see him at the weekends.
Until the matter before the court, he was a digger driver but was unemployed because of the driving ban. He paid €40 maintenance from his benefits but would pay more if he were working.
His brother was a contractor with Sligo and Roscommon County Councils so “there would be plenty of work there”.
He said he was in a position to tax and insure a vehicle.
Lavin said he accepted that his driving was “disgraceful” and it was a “spur-of-the-moment mistake” and “I regret it ever since”.
Even though he did “not have a good road traffic record” he said he had learned his lesson and would never back before the court again.
In 2000, 2002 and 2003 he was drinking a lot at the time and was “wild”. It was all alcohol-related but he did not go out much now and alcohol will not be an issue again.
He told the court that he had been in England, came back in 2010 and got married in 2013 and had not come to garda attention between 2009 and 2014. And he made no application to have his four-year driving ban that was imposed in 2002, reduced in any way. He was back in England in those years.
Mr O’Grady said the previous convictions against him were back over 20 years when he was in his early 20s and he had not come to attention in other years.
Nobody was injured in the collision with the garda car but that was more through luck than anything else.
But the court was not dealing with a case that ended in personal injuries. The defendant had served over six years of a driving ban and was living in rural part of Sligo where there was no public transport.
Judge Francis Comerford noted that the State had not objected to the lifting of the driving ban.
In 2009 the defendant was within 10 years of his last ban which was in 2002 but the offence in 2009 was not dealt with until 2014.
The judge said Lavin had a very bad record with a number of previous driving convictions but that would not stop the court using its discretion. The previous convictions happened a long ago when he was in his 20s and he was 31 when he committed the offence before the court.
“It was a bad offence but he was old enough to know better and he refused to give a breath sample.”
The defendant drove at high speed for 30 minutes and tried to evade the gardaí by dangerous driving that ended in a heavy collision.
The judge said he had a concern that road traffic offences are in some way not as bad if there are no injuries. There is a disconnect between the way courts regard driving when it does harm and does not cause harm. The judge said he could see grounds why he should not lift any period of the ban.
But the defendant had not come to garda attention since 2009, was a fully law-abiding member of the community and took responsibility for the offence he committed in 2009. He got credit also for the way he was dealing with his obligations as a father.
The judge said he accepted Lavin’s promise of complying with the Road Traffic Act if he is allowed to go back driving.
The judge ordered that the defendant’s licence be restored as from Monday’s sitting.