Boy awaits trial in relation to 100mph chase

A 16-year-old boy, who allegedly led gardaí on a high-speed pursuit when he drove a stolen car at 100 miles per hour on the M50 motorway, has been sent forward for trial to the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

The north Dublin boy, a father- to-be, is accused of stealing a Nissan Micra, driving without a licence and insurance, failing to stop for gardaí, as well as two counts of careless driving, on March 28 last year, when he was aged 14.

Judge Ann Ryan had held that the case was too serious to be heard in the Children’s Court had ordered that the case should be sent to the Circuit Court, which on conviction, can impose lengthier sentences.

The teen, who is on bail, was today served with the book of evidence in the case and returned for trial to the present term of the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

The boy told the judge that he hoped that his case would be dealt with in the new year as his pregnant girlfriend was due to give birth before then. “I don’t want to be locked up for my first baby,” he said.

Garda Karl Keane of Blanchardstown station had said that while patrolling the Old Navan Road, he came across the stolen car at a roundabout where it did not yield for other traffic.

The patrol car’s lights and sirens were activated but the teen did not pull over for the gardaí. He drove northbound on the M50 after he broke a red light.

At the Ballymun interchange he passed out another car by “undertaking” on the inside lane. He broke another red light and later lost control but managed to restart the car and continued driving “reaching speeds of 100 miles per hour.”

The boy’s solicitor Michelle Finan had said the boy lived with his extended family. His parents have alcohol related health problems. He mostly lived with his grandmother who in the past has accompanied him to court.

She said it was accepted the boy had not been coming to garda attention recently, had found a job and his family had “high hopes for him”.

Judge Ryan said that she took these factors into consideration but went on to say “the lives of several people would have been in danger” in what she described as a “very, very serious matter”.