Man jailed over ‘ferocious’ city centre driving
Ferocious and manic driving through streets of Cork City by a man who was upset about a breakup with his girlfriend resulted in a serious crash that hospitalised a hard-working taxi driver.
Aggravating matters was the fact that Martin O’Connor was only two weeks back on the road after a three-year ban for drink driving.
O’Connor, from Tircullen, Tallow, Co Waterford, pleaded guilty to two counts of endangerment, one of dangerous driving, drink driving and causing criminal damage at various locations between Lavitt’s Quay and Anderson’s Quay in Cork City on September 3, 2017.
Garda Linda O’Keeffe told Cork Circuit Criminal Court O’Connor drove at ferocious speeds after she and her colleague observed him from their patrol car at Lavitt’s Quay in Cork city centre at 4.48am. The defendant’s white VW Golf pulled up behind them, reversed, and pulled out and accelerated past them, overtaking them on its incorrect side.
The car drove through a set of red lights at the junction of Lavitt’s Quay and Patrick’ Bridge and continued driving in a dangerous manner through two more sets of lights on Merchant’s Quay before breaking lights at the junction of Merchant’s Quay, Brian Boru Bridge and Anderson’s Quay.
The VW Golf sped through the red lights and collided with a Ford Mondeo taxi, resulting in serious damage to the taxi.
O’Connor completely demolished a set of traffic lights set on an island at the junction and he smashed the Ford Mondeo taxi against a wall and the driver, Mihia Stoian, 37, had to be cut from the badly damaged vehicle by firefighters after suffering three cracked vertebrae.
O’Connor was not wearing a seatbelt, was carrying a phone and was very aggressive, shaking a clenched fist at gardaí as he attempted to leave the scene after telling them he had just three pints, said Garda O’Keeffe.
A urine analysis revealed that O’Connor had a urine alcohol level of 285mg of alcohol per 100ml of urine, Garda O’Keeffe said, adding that O’Connor had never once shown any remorse for his action.
Mr Stoian told the court he remembered nothing about the crash as he was knocked unconscious and woke up to find firefighters cutting the roof of his taxi to free him.
He was unable to work for months and had to use up his savings to support his family, while his wife also had to work longer and extra hours to make up for the loss in his earnings, he said in a detailed victim impact statement he read to the court.
O’Connor took the stand to apologise and said that he deeply regretted his actions on the night and the injuries he had caused Ms Stoian. He had been working as an agricultural contractor but had since lost his job.
“I’m sorry for my actions,” he said. “I don’t know what I was doing. I’m sorry for anyone I hurt. I was just after going through a break-up — my head wasn’t in the right place.”
Niamh Stewart, defending, said her client was an alcoholic who had since gone for treatment, he had pleaded guilty at the first available opportunity and contrary to the garda evidence was deeply remorseful.
She asked Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin to be as lenient as possible in sentencing and said his partner was due to have a baby and was overdue since Sunday.
Judge Ó Donnabháin sentenced him to four years imprisonment but suspended the final two years and disqualified him from driving for a period of 10 years.
