Tallaght man jailed for leading Gardaí on high-speed chase

By Claire Henry

A man who brought gardaí on a 35 minute high-speed car chase around Dublin has been jailed for three years. 

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Patrick Joyce (43) of Rossfield, Tallaght, Dublin 24, pleaded guilty to two counts of endangerment and two counts of dangerous driving in various locations in the Tallaght and Palmerstown areas of Dublin on July 5, 2014.

He has 42 previous convictions from both Ireland and the UK to date. Joyce was also disqualified from driving at the time of this offence.

Passing sentence on Friday, Judge Elma Sheahan said that the defendant was “a lucky man that no one was injured physically due to his driving”. She said that this offending was “serious and put a garda at risk while he was trying to do his job”.

Judge Sheahan said that the aggravating factors in this case were the seriousness of the offence and Joyce’s disqualification from driving at the time of the offence.

The judge said she would consider his guilty plea, his remorse, his addiction issues, his troubled childhood and that his cousin died tragically the day before this offence took place as mitigating factors.

Judge Sheahan sentenced Joyce to three and a half years in prison and suspended the final six months for six months. She also directed that he be placed under the supervision of probation services for six months after his release and disqualified him from driving for six years.

His sentence was backdated from when he went into custody on this matter.

Susan Kinsella, a member of the Gardai Siochana at the time of the offence, told Rebecca Smith, BL, prosecuting, that she was on duty in a patrol car on the day in question and observed a gold Skoda Octavia coming around a corner at high speed.

The gardai immediately responded and activated their blue lights. The car, which was driven by Joyce, failed to stop and continued to drive at speed, running several red lights.

Ms Kinsella said that Garda Air Support, additional patrol cars and a garda on a motorcycle all joined the pursuit of Joyce. The car was seen mounting a green and driving through it. The car was driven on the M50 and through residential housing estates, all at high speed and driving through roundabouts and red lights. The gold Skoda finally came to a stop after reaching a dead end.

The court heard that Joyce was arrested at the scene, and his breath smelled of intoxicants. CCTV footage obtained from the Garda Air Support helicopter was played for the court. The pursuit of Joyce lasted approximately 35 minutes.

A victim impact statement was read to the court relating to one member of the gardaí who was involved in the pursuit of Joyce on his motorbike. Both endangerment charges relate to the manner in which Joyce drove in the presence of this member of the gardaí.

Ms Kinsella agreed with Sarah Jane O’Callaghan, BL, defending, that Joyce had drug and alcohol addictions at the time of this offence.

The garda agreed with counsel that the day before this offence took place, Joyce’s cousin took his own life.

Ms O’Callaghan said, “This is an extremely serious case and that Joyce is extremely sorry and remorseful for what he did and is grateful that he did not injure anyone”.

Counsel handed a number of letters to the court, which included a detailed handwritten letter from Joyce.

She said her client developed addictions at a very young age and when his mother died, his life fell apart.