Car chase man ditches pregnant partner

A man left his pregnant partner in a crashed car and fled across fields after losing control of the car while being pursued by gardaí.

The woman was taken to hospital as a precaution but is thought not to have been seriously injured. The driver was arrested a short time later and taken into custody.

A garda patrol near Lissycasey became suspicious of a car being driven on the N68 from Kilrush towards Ennis.

When gardaí followed and tried to stop the car, the driver drove off, then turned off the main road on to a country road.

After about 5km, the car skidded and went out of control at a t-junction at the bottom of a hill, narrowly avoiding a stone bridge, mounted a ditch, and almost dropped into a field about 10 feet below the road.

The driver, believed to be from West Limerick, then jumped from the disabled car and ran off across fields leaving a pregnant woman behind. He was arrested soon afterwards and taken to Ennis garda station for questioning, before being charged and released on station bail.

An ambulance was called for the pregnant woman. She is understood to have sustained minor injuries and was taken to hospital as a precaution.