Laois man pursued by gardaí in shocking high-speed chase is jailed

A LAOIS motorist who was involved a high-speed car chase through Carlow town and out as far as Leighlinbridge during which he rammed several garda cars was last week given a custodial sentence and banned from driving after he pleaded guilty to a series of offences in Carlow Circuit Court.

Judge Eugene O’Kelly said that Richard Davis’s driving was “shocking” on the night of 5 October last year when he drove a Volkswagon Passat at high speed while being pursued by gardaí, with three passengers in the car “screaming” to get out as they were afraid that they would all be killed.

The court heard that the pursuit began at New Oak Estate in the centre of Carlow town and only ended at Rathvinden, Leighlinbridge when Mr Davis drove headfirst into a garda car. A total of three garda cars were rammed by Mr Davis while several motorists and a pedestrian had to get out of his way to avoid being hit.

The defendant had pleaded guilty in an earlier court sitting to three counts of dangerous driving at various locations including Staplestown Road, Carlow, Powerstown and Rathvinden and three counts of criminal damage, two at Rathvinden and one at Powerstown while Judge O’Kelly also took multiple other counts of dangerous driving into consideration.

Last week before he was sentenced, Mr Davis, of Cranagh, Stradbally, pleaded guilty for further charges of driving under the influence of a controlled drug, having tested positive for a “substantial” amount of cocaine in his system, and of failing to stop when ordered by gardaí to do so.

The court heard that the whole escapade began when two gardaí in an unmarked car spotted an uninsured Volkswagan Passat leaving New Oak Estate and failing to stop at a stop sign.

When the gardaí activated the blue lights and siren, the driver, Mr Davis “took off at speed”, down the O’Brien Road, driving fast through Carpenter Way and onto Hanover Road, overtaking cars as he did so and breaking a red light.

Giving evidence, Detective Sergeant Bernie McGuire said that other motorists had to get out of Mr Davis’s way to avoid a collision while a pedestrian who was about to cross the road had to jump back to avoid being knocked down.

The chase continued out onto the Kilkenny Road where the defendant overtook cars illegally and again at Milford Cross, at speeds reaching 130kph. Sgt McGuire continued that Mr Davis drove onto the roundabout at high speed and down onto the road at Powerstown where he rammed a marked garda car.

He then rammed another patrol car and hit it at such a speed that his car spun around while at Rathvindon, his car finally came to a stop when he rammed a third car head on. Garda Tommy O’Loughlin arrested Mr David and brought him to Carlow Garda Station, along with three passengers, two men and a woman, who were in the car with him.

At the garda station, the defendant was tested for cocaine and the level found was “extremely high” according to Sgt McGuire.

The court heard that one of the passengers made a recording of what was happening while they were in the car, with the video showing the passengers telling Mr Davis to slow down, to stop and to let them out of the car.

One of them pleaded with the driver not to go onto the M9 motorway while the woman was screaming at him to stop because she feared that they would all be killed. None of the passengers made official statements to the gardaí nor did they want to give victim impact statements, the court heard.

Sgt McGuire continued that Mr Davis told gardaí that he had taken seven grams of cocaine and 15 Tramodol so he “wasn’t thinking straight” when he got into the car.

Some of the gardaí involved in the pursuit were brought to hospital that night to be checked over and one member was still out of work a year later because of the back injuries he sustained when his car was rammed.

Defence barrister, David Bulbulia SC called his client’s behaviour “shocking” and added that it was “a miracle that no one was killed or more seriously injured” that night. He also outlined Mr Davis’s background, saying that his client had issues with drugs and had suffered several traumas in his life, including the death of his best friend by suicide when he was a teenager, followed by the death of that friend’s mother, also by suicide, and then by the death of his own father when he was 22.

Mr Bulbulia also said that Mr Davis’s uncle was hit by a car and that Mr Davis came across the accident and that his uncle died in his arms by the roadside, which added to his trauma.

Mr Bulbulia continued that the defendant first took drugs at his friend’s funeral at the age of 18, after which his drug use got out of control. He suffered from depression and had self-harmed, he said, and that the night before the car chase, he had taken pills which Mr Bulbulia described as “an acute episode”.

“It was in that frame of mind that he got into the car… it was a perfect storm on the night that Mr Davis got into that car,” said Mr Bulbulia.

Mr Bulbulia said that Mr Davis was now taking steps to improve his life and to address his addiction problems; while a woman for whom Mr Davis does some work around the house said that she trusted him and that he needed help because “the system” had let him down.

Mr Bulbulia also presented a psychologist’s report on the defendant in which the doctor found him to “vulnerable” and remorseful for what he had done. He submitted to the judge to suspend any sentence in full so that Mr Davis could continue addressing his problems.

Judge O’Kelly described the incidents on 5 October 2024 as “shocking", noting the danger that Mr David had put the gardaí and members of the public in by his behaviour. He also took into consideration the defendant’s background, the remorse he felt and that steps he was taking to address his problems.

He continued that he could not suspend Mr Davis’s sentence fully because there “had to be a deterrent” so that drivers would know that they had to obey gardaí when asked to stop.

After mitigation, Judge O’Kelly reduced a headline sentence for one of the dangerous driving offences from four years to two years and eight months and suspended all of it except eight months. Taking all of the other offences into consideration, he also banned Mr Davis from driving for four years.