By Jessica Magee
A man has been jailed for endangerment after he led gardaí on a high-speed chase through greater Dublin during lockdown 2020, ending in a head-on collision with a patrol car.
Daryl Bolger (32) broke over seven red lights, overtook lines of traffic on the wrong side and drove at speeds of over 100kmph in 50kmph zones in a chase involving three garda patrol cars.
No-one was injured but the patrol car was written off in the collision, a court has heard.
Bolger of Kilcarrig Green, Tallaght, Dublin 24 pleaded guilty to endangerment and to driving without insurance at various locations in Tallaght, Clondalkin and Ballyfermot on April 11, 2020.
He was sentenced to three and a half years in prison with the final six months suspended at a sitting of Dublin Circuit Criminal Court yesterday.
The court heard that Bolger refused to stop when spotted
Judge Orla Crowe said it was very fortunate that there had been no injuries to gardaí and that Bolger had put the public at large at risk by driving dangerously and engaging in “really lawless” behaviour.
“With the country in lockdown, Bolger was out and about and up to no good when he was spotted in the Dublin mountains and refused to stop for gardaí,” said Judge Crowe.
The judge noted that Bolger had 131 previous convictions, mostly for driving offences, and that he had been disqualified from driving at the time.
In mitigation, the court heard Bolger was on an enhanced regime in prison and had shown genuine remorse in a handwritten letter of apology.
Judge Crowe said the prosecuting garda was “quite right” not to accept the apology proffered on Bolger’s behalf by his barrister.
The investigating garda told Maddie Grant BL, for the DPP, that Bolger was driving a Ford Focus shortly after midnight when he refused to stop when signalled by gardaí.
The court heard extensive evidence of Bolger’s journey through Ballinascorney in the Dublin mountains through Firhouse, Tallaght, Clondalkin, Ballyfermot and Ronanstown before the head-on collision on the Neillstown Road.
Bolger broke at least seven red lights, drove the wrong way around roundabouts, overtook dozens of vehicles on the wrong side of the road causing other motorists to swerve, brake suddenly or mount the footpath to avoid collisions.
He drove at speeds of over 100kmph including in built-up, residential areas in a chase that lasted just over a quarter of an hour.
Sarah-Jane O’Callaghan BL, defending, said Bolger’s mother has battled alcoholism her whole life and is very ill with COPD.
The court heard that Bolger’s father died from hypothermia in a field near the family home following a domestic dispute.
Bolger himself has been addicted to drugs and alcohol but is now drug-free in custody and wants to link in with rehabilitative treatment at St Francis’ Farm in County Carlow.
Judge Crowe disqualified Bolger from driving for five years and backdated the sentence to May 10 of this year.