Convicted murderer given 3-year jail term for endangering garda

By Isabel Hayes

A convicted murderer who is serving a life sentence for shooting his brother-in-law has been given a three-year jail term for endangering a garda he narrowly ran down in his car.

In June 2021, Gardai were called to the scene where Christopher Devine (44) was sitting in his idling red Mercedes in the early hours of the morning with his eyes glazed, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard.

When a female garda approached him and asked him to hand over the car keys, Devine suddenly took off in the car, narrowly running down the garda who was within arm’s length.

He hit the garda car and another car as he made his getaway, the court heard.

He caused €300 worth of damage to the civilian car and €1500 to the garda car.

Devine was arrested following a separate pursuit.

Devine, formerly of Convent Lawns, Kylemore Road, Dublin 10, pleaded guilty to one count of endangerment and one count of criminal damage on June 27, 2021, with a second count of criminal damage taken into account by the court.

At the time, he had six offences.

This case was adjourned to allow for Devine’s murder trial to take place.

He was convicted of murdering his brother-in-law by shooting him with a submachine gun in Ballyfermot on January 9, 2022 – some seven months after this offence.

He is serving a life sentence for this murder.

He now has 13 previous convictions, Judge Orla Crowe was told yesterday.

The court heard the garda was “shaken but uninjured” following the June 2021 incident.

Aoife O’Leary BL, defending, said her client was someone who had significant difficulties with alcohol and drug abuse at the time of his offending.

He is seeking to rehabilitate himself in custody and is an enhanced prisoner, she told the court.

Sentencing Devine yesterday, Judge Crowe said it was an aggravating factor that Devine was highly intoxicated at the time of the offence.

She set a headline sentence of four years which she reduced to three years, taking mitigating factors into account.

She backdated it to February this year when Devine entered guilty pleas.