Courts

Three-year sentence for man arrested in stolen taxi after prolonged high speed chase by gardaí

Court heard accused by could not be interviewed when eventually apprehended due to level of intoxication

The judge said the court had to consider “the number of gardaí who put their lives and limbs at risk during this pursuit”. Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA Wire
The judge said the court had to consider “the number of gardaí who put their lives and limbs at risk during this pursuit”. Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA Wire
Claire Henry
Tue May 07 2024 - 17:12

A man has been sentenced to three years and nine months in prison for driving a stolen taxi while chased by gardaí in a pursuit that spanned two counties.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Matthew Grogan (26) of Applewood Village, Swords, Dublin, pleaded guilty to possession of stolen property, trespassing, criminal damage, driving without insurance, and two counts of dangerous driving at various locations in Co Louth and Co Dublin between September 22nd and 23rd, 2021.

He has 64 previous convictions, which include convictions for burglary, attempted burglary, unauthorised taking, theft, criminal damage, hijacking, assault, misuse of drugs, public order and road traffic matters.

Passing sentence on Tuesday, Judge Orla Crowe said the accused drove in the most dangerous fashion and with gardaí from Ardee, Dundalk, Swords and members of the Armed Support Unit all involved in pursuing him.

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Judge Crowe said the court had to consider “the number of gardaí who put their lives and limbs at risk during this pursuit”.

The judge said the aggravating factors in this case were Grogan’s previous convictions, some of which were very significant, the amount of Garda recourses that had to be deployed, the speed and manner of driving and the criminal damage caused to the taxi.

Judge Crowe considered Grogan’s guilty plea, his admissions on arrest, his addiction issues, his difficult childhood and that he will now be deprived of his children’s company due to his current prison sentence.

Judge Crowe sentenced Grogan to an overall sentence of three years and nine months in prison, which she backdated to when he went into custody on this matter. She also disqualified him from driving for two years.

Garda Colm Randle told John Moher, BL, prosecuting, that a taxi driver returned to his home at 4.30pm on September 22nd, 2021. He parked his car in his driveway but at 10pm that night noticed that his taxi had been stolen. He reported this to the gardaí and at 1.40am the car was spotted in Ardee being driven by Grogan. The gardaí activated their blue lights but the car failed to stop.

During the subsequent pursuit, Grogan drove the car through red lights at speeds of up to 170 km per hour. Other road users had to take evasive action as the car kept weaving between lanes to stop the gardaí from overtaking him.

Grogan drove through a toll plaza without stopping and an unmarked garda car was narrowly missed by Grogan. He also drove through a junction at 120 kms per hour.

The court heard that members of the Armed Support Unit, as well as garda from Louth and Dublin, were involved in the pursuit. When the car finally came to a stop in the Swords area, Grogan was arrested by armed gardaí. He was unable to be interviewed for several hours due to being under the influence of intoxicants and was described as being “unable to keep his eyes open”.

During his interview, Grogan told gardaí that the last day was a “blur” and that the “yokes” he received were bad. Grogan is currently serving a prison sentence and will be released in June 2026.

Gda Randle agreed with Patrick Jackson, BL, defending that his client had been intoxicated when arrested, but when he was sober, he was easy to deal with.

The garda agreed with counsel that Grogan had addiction issues and that he looks a lot better now compared to on the night in question.

Mr Jackson said his client left school when he was 14 and began using drugs but is now completely clean from all drugs.

Counsel said Grogan is still relatively young and has spent a large portion of his life in and out of custody.

He said Grogan has two children, and he will miss the first three years of one of his children’s lives due to his current prison sentence, and this has been a wake-up call to him.