A man who led gardaí on a high-speed chase which led to school children running off the road to avoid being knocked down has been jailed for three years.
Wayne Gilligan (28), of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to a charge of endangerment, criminal damage and dangerous driving in the Tallaght area of Dublin on February 10th, 2020.
He has 89 previous convictions, including many for road traffic offences.
Judge Martin Nolan said Gilligan drove in a reckless and dangerous manner, narrowly avoiding hitting a number of vehicles and forcing school children to take “evasive action”.
The judge accepted that he has been doing well in prison since his remand and “seems to want to change his life”.
“That is up to him at this point,” Judge Nolan said, noting that Gilligan will otherwise be spending a long time in prison.
Judge Nolan said Gilligan deserved a custodial term before he imposed a prison term of three years and disqualified him from driving for three years.
Pursuit
Garda Vincent Jaffray told Diana Stuart BL, prosecuting, that he and a colleague spotted Gilligan driving a car around the Cushlawn Park area of Tallaght at about 3.50pm on the day in question and noted the car had no front bumper.
The gardaí pulled alongside Gilligan and asked him a number of questions before Gilligan drove off at speed.
The two officer followed the accused, whom they noted was driving dangerously, narrowly avoiding colliding with a bus and other vehicles.
At one point, school children who were crossing the road had to run to avoid being struck, and Gilligan drove so fast over speed bumps that the vehicle was briefly airborne.
Gda Jaffray said other motorists had to take evasive action and slam on their brakes as Gilligan continued to drive at speed. He broke red lights and also drove the wrong way around a roundabout, he told the court.
Gda Jaffray said he ultimately lost sight of Gilligan’s vehicle, but he was later told by other colleagues that Gilligan had collided with their patrol car while trying to drive between it and another vehicle, causing damaged to both vehicles.
Gilligan made good his escape, but was arrested some time later, the judge heard.
Gilligan’s defence counsel submitted to the court that he was remorseful.
He admitted he was taking drugs at the time, but has been making good progress in Wheatfield Prison while on remand.
Gilligan instructed his barrister that he is no longer taking drugs.
