A Letterkenny man who rammed a Garda patrol car and injured a brave Garda has been jailed for five and a half years and put off the road for 15 years.
John Tierney appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court facing a range of charges including the robbery of two women.
In the first case, Tierney led Gardai on a high-speed pursuit in Letterkenny while drunk and uninsured.
Tearaway Tierney hit speeds of up to 135km/h on narrow roads on the outskirts of Letterkenny before he struck a patrol car, which subsequently struck Garda Marcus O’Dowd, who was standing behind the vehicle.
Garda O’Dowd and Garda Barry Gallagher lined their patrol car across the Cullion Road in a bid to stop Tierney from escaping while he was being pursued by detectives in an unmarked patrol car.
Tierney was charged with endangerment, criminal damage, dangerous driving, drink-driving, having no insurance and having no driving license.
The court heard the impact was so severe that the patrol car was written off after sustaining €11,975 of damage.
Tierney, a 34-year-old who has 18 previous convictions, and is living in a caravan at the Polestar Roundabout, pleaded guilty to all charges.
Garda Gallagher, who escaped unhurt from the incident on August 1, 2018, outlined the events to the court.
He told how Tierney, now aged 34, caused chaos by driving dangerously across Letterkenny in a grey Mazda to avoid Gardai while drunk and without a license or insurance.
Cars had to swerve and drive up onto verges to avoid being struck before himself and Garda O’Dowd tried to block his getaway at Cullion Road.
Tierney struck the patrol car which in turn was shunted striking Garda O’Dowd.
Tierney was arrested at the scene but was resisting aggressively and shouting at Gardai and taken to Letterkenny Garda Station while Garda O’Dowd was taken to Letterkenny University Hospital.
He suffered a series of injuries and was forced to remain off work for several months.
Although he is back on duty, the court was told he and his family still suffer from the aftermath of the incident.
During the interview, Tierney initially refused to cooperate but did eventually make certain admissions.
He also told Gardai: “I tried to pass out the patrol car and didn’t mean to injure any Gardai.
“You blocked the road for me sitting at an angle – those and their wee pursuits. It’s not a bit wonder patrol cars get to how they are.”
He said he was sorry for injury Garda O’Dowd and: “I never set out to injure no man. I was not out to hurt any of you.”
A blood sample given by Tierney at Letterkenny Garda Station which showed a reading of 16 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.
Tierney also faced two charges of robbing two women during separate incidents in the car park of the Courtyard Shopping Centre in Letterkenny on February 24 and February 26, 2019 while he was out on bail for the other incident.
The court heard how on February 24 at 6.40pm Mary Cooke had left a local shop and was taking a short-cut through a shopping centre car park when her purse was snatched from behind.
Ms Cooke was left terrified as she watched a man run off towards Pearse Road with the purse containing various cards as well as €40 and £40 sterling in it.
Tierney was spotted on CCTV and his then flat at Celtic Apartments was raided by Gardai the following day and although the purse and cards were found, there was no money.
Ms Cooke in her victim impact statement told how she had grown up for most of her life living on Main Street but she never thought it would be a place she would grow to fear.
She added that while Tierney had taken her wallets, cards and cash, he had taken something much more valuable from her – her confidence.
The court heard that two days later Tierney was again at the centre of another robbery when he again targeted a woman working in the local Department of Social Protection.
Margaret Higgins was leaving work at 12.20pm to attend a physiotherapy appointment and was carrying a change of clothes in a holdall bag when a man tried to snatch it from her at the Courtyard Shopping Centre carpark.
She was dragged to the ground before the man eventually fled with the bag containing the clothing as Ms Higgins shouted for help.
The following day Tierney’s apartment was again raided by Gardai and the black holdall containing Ms Higgins’ personal belongings were recovered.
In her victim impact statement Ms Higgins said her life has changed forever since the incident. She said she does not like Letterkenny town anymore and has also lost her sense of self-worth.
Ms Higgins said she would now like to get her peace of mind back and does not want the incident to enthrall her every day.
Barrister for Tierney, Mr Niall O’Neill, said he wanted to stress that his client never deliberately meant to ram Gardai on the evening in which Garda O’Dowd was injured but was trying to get through a gap and get away.
Mr O’Neill said there was nothing very sophisticated about any of his crimes adding he is not a major criminal.
He said: “It is clear that Mr Tierney does need help and if that could be weaved into the sentence to give some scope for rehabilitation into the future.”
Passing sentence, Judge John Aylmer said the starting point for the endangerment and criminal damage to the patrol car charges merited a starting point of five years in prison. Marking the driving without a licence charge as taken into consideration, Judge Aylmer said the other driving incidents each merited six months in prison.
Judge Aylmer noted that the two robberies were committed while Tierney was on bail on the other matter. He said the two violent robberies were similar offenses which each merited five years in prison.
Judge Aylmer said Tierney was co-operative and tendered an early guilty plea. He accepted that Tierney was now remorseful and the accused has since displayed victim empathy. Judge Aylmer said he was more impressed with Tierney’s initial apology to Gardai than a letter drafted on his behalf by his solicitor. The Judge noted that Tierney has displayed a willingness to engage in rehabilitative services.
Tierney was sentenced to three and a half years in prison on the endangerment and criminal damage charges with the sentences to run concurrently. Tierney was sentenced to four months for drink-driving and driving with no insurance.
Judge Aylmer disqualified Tierney from driving for a period of 15 years.
For each of the robberies, Tierney was sentenced to three years in prison with the final 12 months suspended on his entering into a bond to keep the peace and be of good behavior for a period of 12 months after his release.
Judge Aylmer directed that Tierney be given the appropriate credit for his time spent in custody to date.
