A LATE night car chase through narrow streets of Limerick, ended with a 23-year-old man appearing before Limerick District Court answering five charges of breaches of road traffic legislation.
Dean Leamy, with an address at 580 O’Malley Park, Southill, is also charged with driving a car while disqualified. Garda Keith McCarthy gave evidence of observing a 1995 Dublin registered Nissan Micra leaving McDonald’s Drive-Thru restaurant in Dooradoyle. via the one way entrance.
The accused was driving the vehicle at speed and left the scene without stopping.
The car was pursued through Dooradoyle where it circled a residential roundabout several times before continuing to Mill Road and Collins Avenue, where the driver was said to have turned off the lights in an effort to evade Garda detection.
The vehicle was said to be driven in a dangerous manner through areas of O’Malley Park, where the footpath was mounted on several occasions as the driver attempted to make good his getaway.
The Emergency Response Unit deployed the stinger device, where the two front wheel of the car were punctured.
Evidence was heard that the pursuit began at 23.50 on the night of the 14 December, and continued into the early hours of the 15th.
Leamy, with 56 previous convictions, was currently serving an eight- month sentence handed down on February 18 last for the unlawful taking of a vehicle.
The convicted car thief was also disqualified for a period of seven years at the time of the offence.
Sarah Ryan, solicitor, said that her client was before the court for similar matters in late December and that these charges took some time to come through the system, otherwise they would have been dealt with in 2010.
She said that her client was serving a total of 14 months in prison after he was said to have “gone off the rails” late last year.
The 23-year-old father of two was said to have been a frequent drug user and suffered a heart attack from his addiction.
Judge O’Donnell said that this was an “appalling performance” where “lives were put at stake, those of the gardai and members of the public”.
He pointed out that some of the roads involved were narrow and given the volume of traffic, this “trip” was highly dangerous.
Imposing a a total of 10 months for the breaches of dangerous driving, Leamy was also disqualified for a period of 10 years.
