Man who shot gardai walks free again

A Dublin man who was given a suspended sentence last year for shooting two gardai and for possession of firearms and ammunition walked free from court again today when he was charged in connection with a road rage incident.

David Thomas (aged 36), of Cloonara Crescent, Finglas, Dublin was ordered to pay compensation of €7,685.50 to the injured party for criminal damage to a car in which the man was a front-seat passenger.

The court heard the man, a Mr Stephen Smith, is currently on honeymoon, and the defence counsel Mr Anthony Sammon SC said he imagined he might welcome the money on his return.

The apparent road rage incident happened on July 16, 2000, when Thomas was awaiting trial for the murder of a man during a pub brawl between feuding families in Finglas, a charge he was later acquitted for.

Mr Eamon O'Reilly (aged 23) of Sandyhill Gardens, Ballymun died from a shotgun blast in the pub brawl.

Four days later, David Thomas shot at two members of the Garda Emergency Response Unit attending a search of a flat in which Thomas and members of his family were in hiding in the Richmond Apartments, off North Brunswick St.

Gardai accepted that the Thomas family was in hiding in fear of reprisals from the O'Reilly's.

The jury convicted Thomas of assault causing serious harm on the two ERU members and of possession of firearms and ammunition but sentencing him, Mr Justice Butler accepted that Thomas thought that his family was under attack from the O'Reilly family when gardai came to his door. He imposed suspended sentences of nine and four years respectively.

Last year, a district judge hearing the road rage case returned Thomas for trial in the Central Criminal Court after he added the charge of attempted murder to the charge sheet, but the DPP entered a nolle prosqui on both the attempted murder charge and a charge of reckless endangerment, and yesterday, High Court judge Mr Justice Carney said that one of the highest courts in the land should not be troubled with what was essentially a traffic offence.

The Central Criminal Court was "not a traffic court", Mr Justice Carney said. He said the district judge, had "taken it upon himself to find a charge of attempted murder, which I do not find and which the DPP does not stand by."

Mr Justice Carney said he took into consideration the fact that David Thomas had had the worry of facing a serious criminal charge "that he ought not to have had any truck with".

On July 16, 2000, Thomas drove an Opel Corsa at speed at a parked Mazda at Balcurris Road, Ballymum, rendering the Mazda a write-off and causing a minor cut to the head of its front-seat passenger, a Mr Stephen Smith, who was being driven home to Cavan from Dublin Airport by the driver, Mr Pascal O'Reilly.

Thomas told gardai he thought O'Reilly was about to pull a weapon from the boot of his car.

Pascal O'Reilly had stepped out of the car at the time the collision occurred. In court yesterday, Sergeant Stephen Daly said that had O'Reilly been in the driver's seat, his injuries might have been serious.

Sgt Daly told Ms Pauline Walley BL, for the DPP, that Pascal O'Reilly was driving towards the M50 on the roundabout on Ballymun Road when a green Opel Corsa driven by Thomas banged into the side of his car.

O'Reilly pursued the car to Balcurris Road flats, where a short verbal exchange took place. As O'Reilly was ringing the gardai, he saw Thomas looking down at him from the flats, and then Thomas came down, got into the Opel Corsa and drove at speed towards the Mazda.

Mr Stephen Smith was inside at the time of impact, but was not seriously injured. Thomas had been drinking all afternoon in a pub in Finglas.

In a statement to gardai, he said that he saw Pascal O'Reilly go to the boot of his car to get something and he feared that he was about to get a weapon. He told gardai he did not intend to hurt anyone, but just wanted to put the car out of action.

Superintendent John Mulligan was called by the defence to testify to a history of feuding involving the Thomas's and others.

Supt Mulligan confirmed that the road incident occurred in the months before Thomas went on trial for murder. He agreed with Mr Anthony Sammon SC that the deceased man in the murder case was in close association with other men whom the accused had reason to fear. Threats had been issued, he agreed, and "they were dangerous men".

Mr Justice Carney said that the incident of July 2000 should have merely resulted in a traffic report to the police, dealt with at District Court or in certain circumstances, at Circuit Court level.

He said that where compensation was offered and accepted, he did not combine that with any other penalty. He directed the compensation cheque of €6,000 euro and cash of €685.50 offered by Thomas be given to the injured party.