Former truck driver fails in attempt to get licence restored

A former truck driver has failed in his bid at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to get his driver's license restored after he was disqualified from the road when he swerved into a pedestrian causing him extensive brain injuries.

On a previous date, John Reilly (aged 50) of Pearse Street initially denied he drove into Mr Ian Buckley outside a pub on May 16, 1999, claiming his car had been stolen. He later admitted he swerved his red Nissan Bluebird car at the group of people standing on the Pearse Street footpath to "scare them".

The grandfather-of-five told Judge Patrick McCarten that a former employer had recently offered him a truck-driving job in Blanchardstown and that he wished to go back to work to support his family.

He appealed to be allowed use his car to get to and from work and undertook not to drive otherwise. Reilly asked the judge for a "second chance", stating that truck-driving is "all I know".

Judge McCarten refused Reilly's application and ordered that his driving ban remain in place.

On his original sentence date Reilly claimed that he "never intended" to hurt the people but wanted to frighten them after his niece claimed her bike had been taken by a similar group standing on Pearse Street.

Reilly explained to the judge that he'd consumed 10-14 pints of beer before his niece recounted her story and he got into his car "in a rage" intending to scare the people she alleged took her bike.

Garda Kieran Barry told prosecution counsel, Mr Bernard Condon BL, that the young injured party underwent brain surgery after the collision, had regular physical and psychiatric treatment for five years and has permanent head scars running from his ear to his scalp.

Reilly said he drank his last alcoholic drink the day before court proceedings in 2000 when he received a three-year suspended sentence and was permanently disqualified from driving.