Gardaí chased man driving quad bike on wrong side of road into Áras grounds

A young father of three has been sentenced to four years in prison for dangerously driving a quad bike through busy traffic and for assaulting an elderly person a month later.

Christopher Warburton (26) of McKee Park in Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to endangerment and assault causing harm.

Garda Ciarán Rogers told Caroline Cummings, prosecuting, that on December 22nd, 2017, gardaí spotted Warburton, dressed in black, driving a red quad bike down Blackhorse Avenue in the middle of the road.

When they signalled for him to stop driving, he responded by driving in circles in front of the patrol car.

He then accelerated at speed on the wrong side of the road towards Dunard Estate where he drove on the wrong side of the roundabout, forcing an oncoming vehicle to brake immediately and stop.

An unmarked patrol car signalled for the accused to stop but he continued to drive down Nephin Road. Warburton then overtook a van and two cars, one of which had to brake suddenly to avoid driving into the path of the quad bike, which was being driven on the wrong side of the road.

At the entrance to the Phoenix Park, at the Cabra gate, he pulled in front of a black Volkswagen Golf, which had to avoid driving into the rear of the quad bike.

In the Phoenix Park, the bike appeared to lose power, so the accused jumped off it and there was a brief struggle with one of the occupants of the unmarked Garda car.

Warburton tried to jump over a wall, kicking off the person who was trying to apprehend him and entered the grounds of Áras an Uachtaráin, where he was pursued by a member of the mounted police unit who managed to apprehend him.

Later, the accused told gardaí that he had panicked when he saw the squad car lights and that he had no idea where he had been running to.

Garda Philip Farrissey told the prosecution that on January 17th, 2018, at College Green, Warburton had approached an elderly man, who appeared to be homeless and was intoxicated at the time, shouting abusively at passersby from behind at 5.30pm.

The accused then punched the man, as his friend recorded the incident on his phone.

The injured party fell down and injured his forehead, causing a laceration which started to bleed. Warburton ran to meet the other male who had taken the video.

Two people with medical training came to the aid of the injured party and ambulance personnel attended the scene.

Keith Spencer, defending, spoke of Warburton’s difficulty with substance abuse which had impacted his early life.

The accused has 27 previous convictions for assault, driving without a licence, dangerous driving, intimidation of a witness or juror, possession of drugs and threatening to kill or cause serious harm.

Judge Pauline Codd said that in the case of the endangerment, Warburton's continual manner of driving, obligating gardaí to chase him, was an aggravating factor.

Regarding the assault causing harm charge, the judge said the incident, which she had seen footage of in court, involved the accused “sneaking up behind a dishevelled man and hitting him a considerable blow”.

She said the recording of the video was a “particularly obnoxious aspect” of the incident.

The judge recognised that the accused had a background that was particularly difficult during which he suffered from emotional neglect. She said it was clear from an assessment carried out on Warburton that he was suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

The judge pointed out that a probation report had indicated that the accused had a very high risk of reoffending.

She said Warburton had successfully rehabilitated and having engaged with the Merchants Quay project, was now eight months drug free.

She sentenced the accused to four years and nine months, suspending the last nine months on the condition that Warburton engage in rehabilitation and residential treatment.

The accused was also banned from driving for three years.