Jail sentence and driving ban for motorist who dragged garda along Louth road

A motorist who dragged a member of the Roads Policing Unit along the N1 for 15 metres near the Louth/Armagh border, after he was told he was going to be arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving, has been jailed for three years and three months at Dundalk Circuit Court.

Brian Morgan (60) of Drumgullion Avenue, Newry, pleaded guilty last week to a charge of endangerment arising out of the incident on December 5th 2020.

He initially came to garda attention at a speed check at Newtownbalregan on the M1 northbound, where he was detected driving a Volvo car at 182 kph.

Other road users slowed him down and four minutes later, he was pulled in on the N1 about one kilometre south of Junction 20 - the Jonesborough/Carrickarnan exit.

A garda who was an observer in the Roads Policing Unit vehicle, got out and spoke to the defendant who handed over his UK driving licence and replied “Jeez, I’m sorry” when he was told the speed he had been clocked at.

The officer returned to the garda car, and the Automatic Number Plate Recognition camera, showed him opening the front passenger door to take the key from the ignition, but the defendant started the car and drove off, dragging the garda for 15 minutes before he fell to the ground, hitting is head.

The garda shouted “Don’t” as the defendant reached for the gearstick, and the next thing he remembers is seeing a helicopter overhead as he came too. 

The court heard the Garda who had been driving the patrol vehicle, retrieved the defendant's driving licence, which the court heard was still in the garda's grasp. 

She pressed an emergency button on her radio, and on seeing a Volvo reversing towards them had panicked, thinking it was the same car but the court heard that while similar, it was driven by a motorist who had pulled in after seeing what happened.

Another witness, who had been travelling south, had crossed over the dual carriageway and administered first aid and was concerned that the injured garda's eyes were rolling back.

The M1 was closed at Junction between Junction 18 and the border for a number of hours to facilitate an examination of the scene and the car was found burnt out that evening in a field in The Annies area of Kilcurry in north Louth.

The officer was treated in Our Lady of Lourdes hospital for a head injury, concussion and a fractured collarbone and was off work for over six months.  

In his victim impact statement read to the court on his behalf, the garda said wearing a sling had left him in extreme discomfort, his sleep was badly disrupted and he now has an extra layer of caution in his interaction with members of the public and the incident had altered his approach to everyday policing activities.

Brian Morgan had 21 previous convictions in Northern Ireland, dating back to 1984, with the most recent in 2006.

They included two careless driving and speeding offences.

The Senior Defence counsel said his client, who is a tyre fitter, had not opposed his extradition from Northern Ireland last November.

He added the father of four was depressed and suffering from depression and anxiety after the break-up of his marriage, and was probably suffering from PTSD from an incident in 2013, where a cyclist who collided with a trailer he was towing, was fatally injured.

The court heard the Garda would accept the €10,000 the defendant had in court.

Character references were handed into court by the Defence, written by former Independent Cllr Gavin Malone of Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, the Secretary of St. Mary’s Youth and Community Centre in Newry and Mr. Morgan’s sister in law, a recently retired civil servant who felt he might have been having an anxiety episode and could have been in “flight or fight” mode at the time.

Judge Dara Hayes said it was an appalling incident and the footage from the ANPR camera played in court, had shown the garda being dragged along “half in and half out of the car” before he hit the road.

The judge imposed a four and a half year sentence for the endangerment charge with the final 15 months suspended on the defendant entering a bond to be of good behaviour - while in custody and for 15 months post release. 

A driving ban of eight years was also imposed.