A young man drove a stolen car the wrong way on a busy dual carriageway and the M50 in Dublin before a 30ft-drop crash into a family’s garden, it has been alleged.
Michael Maughan (18) avoided three Garda stinger devices and sped around the city, nearly crashing head-on with a bus and a Garda patrol car, Dublin District Court heard.
Judge Peter White granted conditional bail pending the Director of Public Prosecutions’ directions.
He restricted Maughan, of Whitechurch Heights, Rathfarnham, Dublin, from being in any motor vehicle save for public transport or one owned by a family member.
Garda Cein Meade told the judge on Wednesday that Maughan was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday and charged with five counts of dangerous driving, driving without insurance or a licence, and possessing a stolen Toyota Aqua, taken on October 17th in the Dundrum area.
The teenager appeared unrepresented in court, as many solicitors, including his, have withdrawn their services due to legal aid payment reforms introduced in July, which have caused widespread disruption to the criminal justice system.
The judge cautioned the accused against self-incrimination, stressed that he still enjoyed the presumption of innocence, and gave him a chance to study the bail objections with help from his older brother.
Meade alleged that at 12.40am, he was on patrol with the divisional drugs unit when his command and control unit informed him that a stolen vehicle had failed to stop for gardaí in the Clondalkin area.
The 2016-registered red car was observed at Sundrive Road heading in the direction of the local Garda station. The garda observed the Toyota Aqua approach the junction at speed, followed by a patrol car with its sirens activated.
A Garda stinger device had been set up on one side of the four-way junction, but the teenager, allegedly caught red-handed, swung to avoid it and kept driving through a red light.
The vehicle continued through the Dublin 12 area along the canal at speed, allegedly breaking three more red lights at Herberton Road, Dolphin Road and Davitt Road, putting numerous road users and pedestrians at risk. The car turned right on to Tyrconnell Road, doing 100km/h in a 50km/h zone, the court heard.
The garda said he watched it cross the white line, go through another set of red lights, and continue on the wrong side for the entire Chapelizod Road.
The youth allegedly passed Islandbridge; another Garda stinger device was deployed just outside the Criminal Courts of Justice building, but it was avoided.
The vehicle later took a sharp left at speed, crossing the river Liffey against oncoming traffic at Frank Sherwin Bridge.
At the Chapelizod Bypass, described by the garda as one of the busiest access routes to the city centre, the vehicle drove on the wrong side of the road, heading outbound along the inbound lane towards the M50, covering a total distance of 7km against oncoming traffic.
The officer did not follow it; however, it was tracked by the Garda Air Support Unit helicopter.
The court heard the vehicle drove in the bus lane and narrowly avoided a head-on collision with an oncoming public bus.
Gardaí deployed a third stinger, but the driver “took sharp evasive action”, evaded it, and went on the M50 motorway at Junction 7, where it continued northbound in the southbound lane.
At Junction 6, it exited on to the Navan Road and continued against traffic before turning on to Parkway Road into a cul-de-sac beside a closed school and turning off its lights to avoid detection. Meade said he drove into the same cul-de-sac and met the accused coming head-on, forcing him to take evasive action to avoid a collision.
The court heard that the teenager allegedly drove back on to the Navan Road, followed by the Garda Air Support helicopter, as it continued outbound on the inbound lane on the N3 at the Dunboyne exit, Co Meath. It turned on to the correct lane towards Dublin again.
Meade headed towards the Dublin Mountains at about 2am to continue patrols in search of the vehicle.
While travelling uphill in Dublin 16, he was met head-on by the accused, travelling downhill at speed, forcing him to take evasive action to the side of the road.
He turned in the direction where he had last seen the vehicle and observed a marked patrol car on the side of the road and the accused’s vehicle, which had gone over a 30-ft drop down into the front garden of a family home, coming to a halt near a cement mixer and the front door of the house.
The accused and two other younger teenage boys, who have not been charged, were located near the vehicle.
The accused allegedly made some admissions about driving, but denied stealing the vehicle.
The judge set bail in Maughan’s own bond, cashless at €500, and remanded him to appear again on December 9th for possible further charges.