A man who endangered the lives of his wife and six children when he drove at high-speed down a motorway and rammed six garda cars, injuring four gardaí in the process, has been jailed for three years.
The 35-year-old, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his wife and children, who were the beneficiaries of a protection order at the time, pleaded guilty to 13 offences arising from the incident in Cork on September 28th, 2022.
Det Insp Danny Coholan outlined the background to the 40-minute dangerous driving episode to Judge Colin Daly at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.
The court heard the man’s wife had a domestic order against him at the time and had moved herself and their children out of the family home a number of weeks beforehand. The man had spent five days in a residential psychiatric unit just before the incident.
He arranged to meet his wife and children on the day he was released and took a lot of prescribed medication. It appeared that he left this meeting with his family and returned to them later after taking cocaine and showing a different attitude to his wife, the court heard.
Det Insp Coholan said the man took over his wife’s van when she and their children were in it. He drove down the M8 in a manner that prompted other motorists to notify gardaí. Some motorists pursued the vehicle to try to keep track of it, he said.
Passing motorists could see the children pleading for help and at one stage the side door of the van opened and there was concern that some of the children, who were not restrained with seat belts, might fall out.
At one point the man threw a child’s seat from the van, leaving a five-month-old baby without any form of restraint. At another point, he said a child could be seen in the van “with her hands clasped in prayer imploring the guards to help her”.
Gardaí tried to block the van at the Dunkettle Roundabout, but he rammed a garda car and continued through the Jack Lynch Tunnel on to the N40 South Ring Road before heading down the N28 for Ringaskiddy only to find gardaí had blocked a roundabout at Shanballymore.
He rammed another garda car and turned around and headed back towards Cork city. Gardaí tried to incapacitate him with a Taser without success, but he was eventually halted when gardaí deployed a stinger device which immobilised the van on Carr’s Hill.
The man changed jackets with his wife and switched seats with her to make officers believe it was she rather than him who had been driving during the episode, during which six garda cars were rammed resulting in €21,000 worth of damage.
Defence counsel Ray Boland SC called the man’s wife to give evidence on her husband’s behalf. She told the court that she was in a state of shock when she made a statement on the night about the incident, which she subsequently withdrew.
“I said a lot of words I shouldn’t have said in shock. He was a big loss to me bringing the children to school. What happened, happened but he wasn’t in his right state of mind. He needs help. I want him home to us,” she told the court.
“My little girl had a very bad tummy ache (on the night). He was bringing her to Cork to hospital. He came out of the [psychiatric hospital] that day himself. He is a very good father to his children, a very good husband to me. We would like to see him come home. He wasn’t in the right state of mind that day.”
Judge Daly said the gravity of the offences “is at the highest end of the range”.
“Particularly aggravating factors were that children were present – very young children, unrestrained. His wife and children were held prisoner in the van to the most dangerous extent.”
However, he gave the man credit for his guilty plea and took mitigating factors into account including the man’s personal circumstances, his mental health history, family circumstances and his wife’s evidence that he had been a good husband and father.
He also acknowledged that the man had no relevant previous convictions and noted his expressions of remorse to his family and members of An Garda Síochána for the injuries and damage he caused.
Judge Daly said taking the false imprisonment charge first, he would impose a four year sentence but suspend the final year. He said he would impose a similar sentence on the endangerment charge and lesser sentences on the various driving and breach of protection order offences. He disqualified the man from driving for 10 years.
The judge commended members of An Garda Síochána, particularly those injured on the night, for their bravery in trying to apprehend the man while he posed an exceptional risk to his family, gardaí and other road users with his actions.
