State not liable for pregnant woman's injuries

The State cannot be held liable for serious injuries sustained by a pregnant young woman on the basis that a Garda patrol car was pursuing the motorbike on which she was a pillion passenger when it collided with a car, the Supreme Court has ruled.

Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns said the cause of the serious injuries sustained by Deirdre Hayes, who later miscarried, was not the pursuit of the motorbike by gardaí but the "utterly reckless" driving of the motorbike by her then boyfriend Ian Lynch, of Portdrine, Cratloe, Co Clare, on a bend in the road near Kilfeakle, Co Tipperary, on August 6th, 1994. Mr Lynch was aged 22 at the time, while Ms Hayes was 20.

This recklessness was all the greater as Mr Lynch knew that his girlfriend was pregnant and he had exposed her to "shocking danger", the judge said.

It was "not at all surprising" that Ms Hayes was heard to repeatedly state after the accident "I'll kill him" in reference to Mr Lynch, who had no driving insurance and a false number plate on the bike and had motives of his own for driving through speed checks, the judge said.

Even if Ms Hayes, of Beechwood Avenue, Croom, Co Limerick, was completely blameless for what occurred, there were also "compelling" policy reasons which require that gardaí be allowed uphold the law without undue fear or apprehension of sanctions for doing so, the judge stressed.

"A high premium is placed on road safety in modern Ireland, where there is an unacceptable level of road deaths, many of which are caused by speeding," he said. The courts should not hinder gardaí in their efforts by unduly relaxing the requirements to establish causation of injuries.

Mr Justice Kearns was giving the three-judge Supreme Court's unanimous judgment upholding the Minister for Finance's appeal against a High Court decision that the cause of the speed at which the motorbike was being driven at the time of the accident was the pursuit of the bike by the Garda vehicle and therefore the State had a liability to Ms Hayes.

Outlining the case, the judge said the accident occurred in perfect road and weather conditions at about 9pm on August 6th, 1994. Ms Hayes was a passenger on the 500cc motorbike being driven by Mr Lynch from Kilkenny to Limerick when, at a bend in the road near Kilfeakle, the bike crossed a continuous white line on to its incorrect side.

A car was coming in the opposite direction but its driver had seen the speeding bike approaching, pulled into a farm entrance and was practically stopped when the bike hit the car with a forceful impact. Mr Lynch and Ms Hayes were thrown some distance.

No claim was brought against the car driver but the State was sued because it was alleged the motorbike was being chased at high speed by a Garda car, causing Mr Lynch to panic and go out of control.

The State had not challenged the High Court findings of fact including that a Garda car pursuing the bike reached speeds of 100mph, that Mr Lynch was aware gardaí were pursuing him and that the offence in the case of which the gardaí were aware was a traffic offence with no evidence of a more serious offence. The High Court found the driving of the Garda car breached a duty of care to Ms Hayes and that the State was liable to her.

In its appeal, the State argued the trial judge drew incorrect inferences from the facts and Mr Justice Kearns yesterday upheld that argument.