By Sonya McLean
A man who led gardaí on a high speed chase which ended with him crashing the vehicle into a set of traffic lights has been jailed.
Christopher Murphy (33) later violently resisted arrest at his home while his partner Malika Amraoui (35) withdrew the officer’s firearm from the holster when she was also trying to stop the garda from arresting Murphy.
Murphy, of Swiftbrook Drive, Tallaght, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to endangerment on October 21, 2021 in the west Tallaght area of Dublin.
Amraoui, formerly of the same address, pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer on the same date.
Murphy has 33 previous convictions for mostly road traffic offences, while Amraoui has two previous convictions for having no insurance.
Judge Martin Nolan said any reasonable person would have known it was a garda car following him and that Murphy drove in a dangerous way in the Tallaght area to make good his escape.
He said the sergeant was isolated at Murphy’s home and it would have been a very frightening experience for him to confront the couple in this manner.
The judge said Amraoui was in “some way out of control” and that Murphy had behaved disgracefully.
He said losing the gun in the manner he did would have been a “nightmarish situation” for the sergeant before he sentenced Amraoui to three years in prison, which he suspended in full.
Judge Nolan said Murphy had endangered others in the pursuit and had behaved disgracefully when confronted.
He jailed him for three years and disqualified him from driving for five years.
The court heard that Murphy was first spotted driving a black Range Rover at speed on the Fortunestown Road in Tallaght at 1.35am.
He was directed by officers, who were in an unmarked patrol car, to pull over but he refused to do so and continued to drive at speed into the Cloonmore area of Jobstown.
Murphy then drove through the various estates at speed before returning to the Fortunestown Road, where he drove the wrong way around a roundabout and drove onto the Jobstown Road at high speed on the wrong side of the road.
The pursuit came to an end when he lost control of the jeep on Fortunestown Way and crashed into a set of traffic lights, completely destroying them and causing €15,473 worth of damage.
Murphy was chased on foot and followed onto Swiftbrook Drive where he kicked in the door of a house and ran inside. The sergeant knocked on the door and shouted “armed gardaí”.
Amraoui opened the door and told the sergeant that a man had run through the house and asked the officer to check the house for her.
Murphy was found in the garden and the sergeant tried to put handcuffs on him but he became aggressive and violent and resisted arrest, claiming he had not done anything.
The sergeant asked Amraoui to call 999 but she refused claiming she had no phone, she also refused to confirm her address to allow the officer to call for backup.
He realised then that Murphy and Amraoui knew each other and he became in fear for his personal safety. He tried to move Murphy out of the house and managed to get him out onto to the street.
Murphy threatened to “bite your face off” so the sergeant had to work on keeping his head away from him as he continued to try and arrest him.
At his point Amraoui was continually shouting at the sergeant and attempting to intervene before she grabbed the gun from the officer’s holster.
He managed to grab the gun back from her and forced her back away from him by kicking out at her.
The court heard that back-up arrived and they managed to put Murphy into a patrol car after he was pepper sprayed because he continually resisted arrest.
Both were taken in for questioning and while nothing of evidential value came out of Murphy’s interview, Amraoui accepted there had been a scuffle and said she may have made accidental contact with the sergeant.
The court heard that Amraoui had written a letter for the court giving her unreserved apology for her behaviour that night.
It was accepted that her actions were out of character and that she has not come to garda attention since.
Murphy also had a letter of apology and had a testimonial from his current employer.
His family were in court to support him.
Murphy claimed that his life was under threat at the time and he didn’t realise it was a garda that was pursuing him in the car chase.
The gardaí do not accept that he didn’t realise it was members of the gardaí who were following him.