A man who dragged a garda along the ground while driving away in a car that gardaíwere attempting to seize has been jailed for two years.
John Jervis (43) was given permission by gardaíto get tools out of one of two cars they were attempting to seize, but he then got into a car and drove away while a garda was holding onto his shoulder.
Jervis, of Cranouge Road, Ballymun, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Courts to endangerment at that address on November 5th, 2020.
He has 105 previous convictions, including convictions for unauthorised taking, theft, possession of drugs for sale or supply and road traffic offences.
Passing sentence on Tuesday, Judge Melanie Greally said gardaíhad accommodated Jervis by permitting him to access the cars and he seized that opportunity to flee in circumstances that were “highly dangerous”.
The judge said she accepts there may have been “high emotions” in play, but that in no way mitigated the serious nature of what he did or the impact it has had on the garda.
Judge Greally sentenced Jervis to 2½ years imprisonment, but suspended the final six months on strict conditions including that he abstain from all illicit substances for 12 months post release.
Gold Land Rover
Sgt Damien Leahy told Derek Cooney BL, prosecuting, that on the date in question, gardaíarrived to the address in Ballymun with warrants to seize a gold Land Rover and a black Audi car, both of which they believed belonged to Jervis.
Sgt Leahy said that when officers explained the situation to Jervis, he asked to be allowed to remove tools from the Land Rover. The gardaí agreed to this and Jervis took a number of items from the boot before leaving them on the road.
Jervis then claimed he wanted to remove items from the Audi, got inside the car and turned it on while the driver’s door was still open. A garda grabbed him by the shoulder and instructed him to turn the car off.
The accused accelerated forward aggressively and ended up pulling the garda alongside him. While being dragged, the garda narrowly missed colliding with a parked patrol car.
Rolled away
Jervis stopped the car suddenly to avoid hitting gardaí and members of his family, giving the garda time to roll away. The car then drove away from the scene, driving over the tools Jervis had left on the ground.
Sgt Leahy agreed with Mark Lynam BL, defending, that the offence happened in the context of gardaí being distracted dealing with “something of a public order incident” in which people present were arguing with them as they attempted to seize the cars. He agreed with counsel that his client was homeless at the time of the offence and was sleeping in his car. He agreed that Jervis wished to apologise for what happened.
Counsel said his client has gotten his heroin addiction under control while in custody and he intends to live in the family home upon his release.