Cork motorist carrying stash of drugs drove at garda trying to stop him at checkpoint 

Incident occurred at Castletownroche village in Co Cork and the car involved in the incident crashed and was found on its roof some distance away soon afterwards, court heard

Kieran Browne, 28, of Woodview Drive, Mallow, Co Cork, pleaded guilty to endangering the life of Garda Brian McCabe and a charge of having cannabis for sale or supply at the same time. File picture: Dan Linehan

A motorist carrying a stash of drugs drove at a member of An Garda Síochána trying to stop him from getting away and now he has been jailed for two years.

Judge Helen Boyle set the sentence at two years and six months but suspended the last six months at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

Kieran Browne, 28, of Woodview Drive, Mallow, Co Cork, pleaded guilty to endangering the life of Garda Brian McCabe and a charge of having cannabis for sale or supply at the same time.

A passenger in the Volkswagen Golf, 26-year-old Corey McAuliffe, of Wood Road, Mallow, pleaded guilty to having cannabis for sale or supply on that occasion and sentencing in his case was put back until October 27.

The incident occurred at Castletownroche village in Co Cork and the car involved in the incident crashed and was found on its roof some distance away soon afterwards.

Browne got out of the driver’s seat and fled towards a house. Gardaí caught up with him after a 1km chase on foot.

The package of drugs being carried in the car was thrown out the window before the vehicle crashed and overturned.

Donal Cronin, barrister for McAuliffe, said he did not flee from the crashed car and was arrested at the scene. He admitted his part in the drugs crime and said he had an addiction at the time. Mr Cronin said the accused had been pressurised by others to become involved in the offence.

Emmet Boyle, barrister for Browne, said this defendant made admissions and pleaded guilty to the charges against him.

Garda Brian McCabe said he and Garda Brian Murphy were on checkpoint duty on February 17, 2022.

“I stood out and indicated for the Volkswagen to stop. Kieran Browne was looking directly at me and he made a conscious decision to accelerate towards me. If I was a split second slower it would have been more serious,” Garda McCabe said.

He said he now puts more thought into checkpoints, which are a regular part of his duty.

Garda McCabe said of Browne: “He has seen me numerous times in court since this happened and he never apologised to me.”