Driver ‘under influence of others over drug debt’ fled from gardaí and parked truck in GAA club

A truck driver who drove dangerously before stopping in the grounds of a GAA club had ignored repeated garda signals to stop his vehicle, a court heard.

Eddie Collins (49) was “under the influence of others at the time due to a drug debt”, his lawyer said.

Judge David McHugh fined Collins, ordered him to complete 240 hours’ community service in lieu of five months in prison and banned him from driving for 15 years.

The defendant, with an address at Collinstown Crescent in Neilstown, admitted counts of dangerous driving as well as unlicensed and uninsured driving on April 6, 2019.

Garda Dwayne O’Brien told Blanchardstown District Court that gardaí were on mobile patrol when they received reports of a blue truck acting suspiciously on Porterstown Road in Clonsilla, Dublin.

Gda O’Brien said that the truck took off at speed. He said that gardaí made a number of attempts to stop the vehicle but these were ignored, and the truck continued to overtake cars.

It also failed to stop at a junction at Diswellstown Manor and Porterstown Road, forcing other road users to swerve to avoid a collision.

Gda O’Brien said the truck then drove into the GAA grounds at Somerton Road, where the vehicle came to a stop.

Gda O’Brien said that Collins got out of the vehicle and was apprehended and taken to Finglas garda station, where he was charged.

The court heard Collins had 54 previous convictions, including seven for uninsured driving.

Defence solicitor Michael Kelleher said that his client’s life was in chaos at the time of this matter, and he was struggling with a drug addiction and “under the influence of others due to a drug debt”.

Collins had since gone cold turkey, and no longer had a drug problem. He had also broken ties with those individuals he previously had hung around with.

Asking the judge to be as lenient as possible, Mr Kelleher said that Collins had not been in trouble since this incident, had co-operated with gardaí and had apologised to officers for his behaviour.

Judge McHugh said Collins had “an appalling record”. He noted this incident took place in 2019, and if Collins had come before the courts in 2020 or 2021 there was no doubt he would have been going to jail.

However, Judge McHugh said Collins had not come to garda attention since, and it appeared he had turned his life around.

The judge ordered him to complete community service in lieu of a prison sentence, and he adjourned the case to May to allow the Probation Service assess Collins for his suitability to complete community service.

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