Disqualified driver who hit teens remanded in custody

A 20-year-old disqualified driver whose out of control car hit a group of girls last New Years Eve pining two of them up against a wall has been remanded in custody pending sentence.

Richard Doyle, whose own mother died in a car accident, fled the scene when witnesses began abusing him leaving the two 17-year-old girls, who of whom was celebrating her birthday, trapped and screaming in pain.

Doyle, of Valeview Drive, Finglas, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm to the two Leaving Certificate students on December 31, 2007 at Dunsink Road, Finglas. He also pleaded guilty to having no driving licence and no insurance on the same occasion.

The eldest girl, who suffered a spiral femur fracture, told Judge Tony Hunt that she would never forget the pain shooting through her as she lay in hospital and she gets flashbacks when sleeping. She said she used a wheelchair for some time and lost confidence due to scars and being "slagged" about the steel pin in her leg.

She said she did not feel she would ever be the same again because she was always angry. She said she had to give up a part-time job as a hairdresser and her hopes of doing a fitness course had been dashed.

Her younger friend, who also suffered leg injuries, said she was unable to fulfil her dream of becoming a fitness instructor because of her injuries but now hopes to join the gardaí. She said she still gets pain when she is walking, is less confident and attends a physiotherapist after spending three months in a wheelchair.

She said she had a panic attack the first time she saw Doyle after returning from hospital and wears her iPod when she is near traffic or sleeping to avoid flashbacks of the accident which occurred on her birthday.

Judge Hunt remanded Doyle in custody until his sentence date next year despite a plea by defence counsel, Mr Damien Colgan BL, to allow Doyle spend time with his child who was born yesterday (Wed).

Garda Paul Gosker told Ms Úna Ní Raifeartaigh BL, prosecuting, that a group of girls were gathering to go ice-skating when the car driven by Doyle came around the corner and up onto the path crushing two of the girls against a wall which then collapsed behind them.

Ms Joanne Boyd, who was driving nearby, told gardaí she had seen a young man speeding up the road in a blue Mazda. She said the man appeared to pull his hand brake as he was driving straight and lost control.

Ms Boyd said she ran over to group and told Doyle to reverse as the girl's legs were trapped. She said he muttered an expletive and ran off. A man walking his dog said he saw Doyle run away without looking back.

Garda Gosker said both girls were screaming in pain when he arrived and one of them was lying face down amongst the bricks. The girls were taken to Blanchardstown Hospital and spent a number of days there.

He said when he returned to Finglas garda station about half an hour later Doyle was waiting there for him.

He told gardaí the car did not respond when he attempted to turn right and when it kept going straight he applied the hand brake, lost control and hit the group. He admitted he was taking the bend too fast.

Doyle told gardaí the car was "a heap of shite" he had bought in Dunsink Lane about 10 minutes earlier. The car was analysed and the parking brake was found to be defective.

He said he was "very sorry" and claimed to have tried to help get the car off the girls but said he became frightened when the onlookers began abusing him and ran off. He said he turned himself in because "I knew it was the right thing to do."

Gda Gosker said Doyle had six previous convictions and had been disqualified from driving for two years in 2006 for drunk driving. He agreed with Mr Colgan that Doyle's own mother had died in a car accident and that he became a father for the second time yesterday.

Mr Colgan said Doyle had co-operated with gardaí and wished to apologise in open court to both girls. He said Doyle had been raised by his grandparents after his mothers death and had recently established a relationship with his father who was absent during his childhood.

He said Doyle, who has worked as a plumber and painting and decorator in the past, was not employed at the moment but would be willing to pay compensation to the girls over a number of years.