Gardaí accused in court of targeting rugby player
February 22, 2013 - 7:20am
Officers had nineteen identical sentences in their statements
BY DEARBHLA GERAGHTY
A young Connacht Rugby player, who came to the attention of Gardaí for using the bus lane all the way between Merlin Park and Renmore Road, had a dangerous driving summons struck out against him at a special sitting of Galway District court on Wednesday.
Judge Aeneas McCarthy said that he could not convict the defendant of the offences before him as two Garda witnesses had made almost identical statements.
Garda Damien Walsh told the court that he was driving a patrol van at 8pm that night when his attention was drawn to a red VW Golf coming towards him, in the direction of the city.
The car had been using the bus lane in heavy traffic, and had not moved into the main carriageway when the lane changed to a left hand only turn; the car proceeded straight on and joined the bus lane again.
At the junction with Ballyloughane Road, he said that the driver again ignored the left-only turn at a break in the bus lane, and continued on. The driver went through an amber light without even braking.
He said Moore then ignored the hatch markings at the end of the bus lane, which advises bus and taxi drivers to join the main queue of traffic, as it again turns into a left-only lane.
“The cars in the city-bound lane were going straight, they had to take evasive action to avoid a collision. There should have been no car to their left.
When he spoke to Moore, the Garda said that the driver did not take the alleged offences seriously.
Solicitor for the defendant, JP Foley, implied to the court that Garda Murphy and the observer, Garda Anthony Kilcoyne, had targeted his client on this occasion, due to a previous encounter with him the month before. They disputed this.
Moore said he had “not the slightest” memory of cars swerving to avoid him. “My only offence was that I was driving in the bus lane.”
Inspector Ernie Whyte put it to the court that the defendant had “muscled his way” through the traffic and had ignored the rules of the road.
However, Mr Foley, maintained that the two Gardaí involved had purposefully targeted his client on the date in question.
“There was a certain amount of over-enthusiasm involved here,” he said, referring to the 19 identical sentences in their statements.
Judge McCarthy agreed with Mr Foley, and said that he would not be happy to convict Moore for dangerous driving for that very reason. He dismissed all of the other summonses before the court, except for the one relating to driving in the bus lane.
He conceded to the solicitor’s request that his client be given the chance of avoiding a conviction by making a donation to the court poor box. The Judge adjourned the matter to March 6 for payment of €200, after which Moore will receive the benefit of the Probation Act.
For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune
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