A detective, who crashed an unmarked Garda car on the M50 in Dublin after he spent hours in a pub, has been fined €500 and given a two-year driving ban.
Det Gda Kevin Keys, who is attached to Mountjoy station in Dublin, lost control of a Ford Mondeo which collided with a Hyundai Sante Fe 4X4 driven by Gareth Wooster, who did not sustain serious injuries, on February 6th, 2010.
At Dublin District Court today, Det Gda Keys was found guilty of a charge of dangerous driving and Judge Conal Gibbons said "he must be held to account".
The judge ruled that Det Gda Keys did not have to ask for permission to use the unmarked Ford Mondeo and there was no evidence to contradict his claim that he was serving a witness summons at the time. The judge said it was clear the officer had drink taken but there was conflicting evidence as to the amount he had consumed.
He dismissed a charge for taking the Mondeo without authorisation from his station but said he had no doubt that Det Gda Keys was guilty of dangerous driving.
Defence solicitor Dara Robinson asked the judge to note that Det Gda Keys, who works in one of Ireland's busiest detective units, had no prior criminal convictions and "a hitherto unblemished record is now seriously blemished".
Judge Gibbons said the dangerous driving was "not at the most serious end" but he said Mr Wooster "could well not have been here". He said Det Gda Keys, who had denied both charges, was spoken of highly by his superiors for his professionalism and the incident was regrettable. He gave the detective one month to pay the fine or else he will face a 14-day jail term.
The detective had told investigators from the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) that he was delivering a witness summons; he had drank four or five lager shandies in a pub earlier that day but was fit to drive.
Another detective had told the court that it was possible Det Gda Keys had six pints of lager. Det Keys had been rostered to work that day from 9am to 5pm, but at about 2pm, he went to a pub in Phibsborough, in Dublin, and stayed there with colleagues until 7.30pm.
At about 7.50pm, while driving the Mondeo, he attempted to enter the exit for junction 11, but it was cordoned off with traffic cones and he then came back on to the M50.
The Mondeo crossed three lanes until it collided with Mr Wooster's Sante Fe which was written off. It was estimated that the Mondeo had been travelling at about 95kmph when the speed limit in the area had been reduced to 60kmph due to the road works.
Tyre marks indicated that it travelled across the motorway and rotated clockwise for 22 metres until it came to a halt. Mr Wooster's 4X4 turned anticlockwise and went a further 15 metres before it stopped.
Tests revealed that the unmarked Garda car's anti-lock braking system was defective, and there was conflicting information on road signs leading up the point where he crashed, the court had heard.
Mr Wooster had said: "I saw the brake lights and the Mondeo wobbled from side to side and did a u-turn on the motorway." He recalled "looking down the tyre of the Mondeo" which he said had been driving significantly faster than his car.
A retired Garda, who happened on the crash scene, said Det Gda Keys, appeared to be in shock and was saying "I am fucked, I am fucked". He got "a passing whiff" of alcohol from Det Gda Keys as he was being put into an ambulance. A paramedic had told the court that there was a smell of drink off him.
Det Gda Keys, who broke six ribs and suffered a punctured lung in the crash, was brought to Tallaght hospital but did not go in for treatment.
When questioned by GSOC, he claimed he thought the waiting list would be too long and he had denied that he had not gone in for treatment so he could avoid a drink-drive test. He claimed he was later brought to two private clinics by his wife but they were closed.
At about 4am, a Garda Sergeant and a GSOC officer spoke to him at his home and saw that he was suffering from "pangs" of pain. However, too much time had elapsed to carry out a breathalyser test on him.
He sought treatment for his injuries afterwards and had no recollection of the crash. After the crash Mr Wooster had also been brought to the hospital where he was breathalysed resulting in a zero reading.