Driver forced gardaí off road

A van driver going around a dangerous bend while using a mobile phone forced an oncoming car into a ditch to avoid a crash — and two off-duty gardaí were travelling in the car.

Garda Keith Reidy of Kanturk station was a front-seat passenger in the car and Garda Lyndsey Nason of Shannon station was driving at lunchtime on Aug 3, 2012.

Michael Kiely, aged 19, of Kilbarry Cottage, Old Mallow Rd, Cork, pleaded not guilty at Cork District Court to charges of dangerous driving and driving while on a phone at Lower Killeens, Blarney, and later being threatening and abusive to Garda Reidy at Faggot Hill.

Garda Reidy said there was no damage done to the car but said: “We ended up in the ditch.”

They followed him, indicated for Kiely to pull in, and he did so. Garda Reidy said: “I asked him his name. He then proceeded to tell me to fuck off, that I couldn’t do anything if I was off duty. He got into his vehicle and sped off.”

Kiely said he could not recall if he was on a mobile phone but did not think he was. He said he told Garda Reidy to “fuck off” because he thought there was no reason for him to be asking his name. He said it was only after that exchange that the garda said he was a member of An Garda Siochána.

Judge Olann Kelleher dismissed the threatening charge and reduced the dangerous driving charge to one of careless driving and convicted him on that and driving with the phone. The judge fined him a total of €950.