Repeat dangerous driver who was banned for life jailed for 14 months

By Isabel Hayes

A repeat dangerous driver who drove in an “intolerable” and “outrageous” fashion despite being banned from driving for life has been jailed for 14 months.

James Maughan (39) was given a suspended four-year sentence in 2022 after he led gardaí on a high speed chase that they had to abandon as it was so dangerous.

At the time, Maughan, who the court heard is a vulnerable person who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, said he was being threatened by his nephew with a taser.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard today, that shortly after this suspended sentence was imposed, Maughan again engaged in dangerous driving, including a hit and run of the car containing an off-duty garda and his child.

He was convicted in the District Court of 16 offences relating to this incident on February 8 this year, was jailed for nine months and disqualified from driving for a period of 20 years, Garda Joe Aiken told Carol Doherty BL, prosecuting.

The matter returned to the Circuit Criminal Court because Maughan breached the conditions of his suspended four-year sentence, which included that he be of good behaviour and involved a lifelong disqualification from driving.

When Judge Pauline Codd imposed this sentence in 2022, she noted Maughan’s background and vulnerabilities including his schizophrenia and that he had the support of his family.

She noted the Probation Service had provided a high level of support for him and outlined a plan in terms of supervision.

Today, the court heard Maughan in fact became homeless shortly after this and was living out of Dublin Airport.

He was not accessing his required medication.

In relation to the hit-and-run incident, the court heard Maughan collided with a car containing an off-duty garda and his child, but no-one was injured.

When arrested later, he made full admissions.

Judge Codd noted it was an “intolerable” and “outrageous” situation in which Maughan would not stop driving.

“Someone is going to be injured,” she said.

The court previously heard that Maughan, previously of Stockhole Lane, Cloghran, Co Dublin, had 174 previous convictions, including 10 for dangerous driving, 23 for driving with no insurance and 21 for driving without a licence and four for car theft.

He previously had 57 other convictions for other road traffic act offending.

Some of Maughan’s dangerous driving and endangerment charges go back a decade.

In 2018, he received a 20 year driving ban from a court in Cavan for driving with no insurance and in 2011 he received a 10 year ban for endangerment.

Judge Codd imposed 14 months of the previously suspended sentence on Maughan.

She requested that upon his release he remain under medical supervision and she noted that his family might consider getting a carer for him.