Court hears of 180kmph car chase on Valentia
GARDAÍ EVENTUALLY GIVE UP CHASE AS SPEEDS JUST “TOO DANGEROUS”
A GARDA car chase through Portmagee and Valentia of estimated speeds of up to 180kmph forced gardaí to give up the pursuit of the driver because they considered it “too dangerous”, Cahersiveen District Court heard last week.
The court was hearing evidence in the case of 21-year-old Valentia man Darragh Murphy, Ballymanagh, who was before the court for dangerous driving on two separate occasions – one while he was on bail.
The court heard that gardaí came across a Volkswagon Jetta at 4.06am, coming towards them at speed, on November 5, 2011.
The garda car had to avoid the vehicle and then followed it into Portmagee, where it drove through the village at estimated speeds of 80kmph and then onto the bridge to Valentia on the wrong side of the road.
The car accelerated to a speed estimated in the region of 170kmph or 180kmph as it headed to Chapeltown, where it cut the bend and drove in the middle of the road. That’s when gardaí decided to stop their pursuit of the vehicle as “it had become too dangerous”, the court was told.
A little later gardaí observed the same car coming towards them and they were able to identify the driver but had to take evasive action to avoid a collision.
In all, Mr Murphy was charged with three accounts of dangerous driving. In a second separate incident in Pallas, Beaufort, on September 18, 2017 – while the defendant was on bail arising from the first incident – gardaí observed him in a black Volkswagon Golf, queuing at a red light at road works. Mr Murphy, skipped the queue, broke a red light and drove against the flow of traffic. Luckily there were no cars oncoming.
Defence solicitor Padraig O’Connell said that the 2016 incident related to one series of events. The court was told that the defendant had “scrimped and saved” to come up with €5,000 for the court poor-box, indicated by the previous sitting judge. Mr O’Connell said in making the donation, Mr Murphy believed there would be “a certain outcome” with all matters finalised. As they were not, Mr Murphy was on bail when the Beaufort incident occurred, the solicitor stated.
He added that Mr Murphy had only gone through the red light because “he thought it was safe to do so” and said Mr Murphy has “learnt his lesson by these series of events”.
But Judge Waters did not accept the defence’s reasoning, pointing out that Mr Murphy had been in court in July 2017 over the Valentia incident and just two months later the second incident occurred. “He was given a chance and didn’t take it,” he added.
Judge Waters then convicted and fined Mr Murphy €200, disqualifying him from driving for two years for dangerous driving at Doona, Portmagee. Two further charges of dangerous driving were struck out.
He was also convicted of dangerous driving at Pallas, Beaufort, fined €400 and disqualified from driving for three years.
Judge Waters said that Mr Murphy’s driving was “crazy” just two months after making a payment to the court. “It is an aggravating factor,” he said.