Man accused of trying to ram Garda jeep remanded in custody

A MAN who is alleged to have tried to ram a Garda patrol jeep after driving a car at 190km/h has been remanded in custody for a book of evidence from the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Thomas Kiely (31), with addresses at Patrickswell, County Limerick, is facing charges of endangerment and dangerous driving.

At a previous sitting of Limerick District Court in August, Gardaí objected to Mr Kiely getting bail, with Detective Garda Dean Landers telling Judge Patricia Harney that objections were based on a number of factors, including the seriousness of the charges and the nature of the evidence.

The detective told the court that it is alleged that Mr Kiely was the driver of a car which was observed twice in August of last year travelling at 190km/h on the N20 near Croom.

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Detective Landers said it is also alleged that Mr Kiely was behind the wheel when the same car evaded Gardaí after they had put on the blue lights in the patrol jeep in an attempt to get the car to stop, which it failed to do.

The driver of the car Gardaí were pursuing “was driving at times on the wrong side of the road, drove on the hard shoulder, and turned off all lights, making it extremely dangerous,” Detective Garda Landers told the court.

Gardaí gave chase and the car came to a stop in a sports field.

“The vehicle accelerated at speed, coming at the patrol jeep. I took evasive action,” Detective Landers told the court.

“Due to the speed it was accelerating at, it would have caused serious injury or even death.”

The Garda witness agreed with Mr Kiely’s solicitor that, since being arrested, his client had made “no admissions” to any of the charges and is before the court presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

At the previous sitting, as the detective was outlining how Gardaí found, seized, and examined the car for evidence, Mr Kiely shouted from the dock: “Did you find any fingerprints, you f****** liar?”

Judge Patricia Harney, presiding at the earlier sitting, refused bail, telling Mr Kiely that she would “not tolerate profanity” and ordered him to be removed from the court.

Appearing by video link last week, Mr Kiely was further remanded in custody to appear again before the court on September 9 for the service of a book of evidence.

– Funded by the Court Reporting Scheme.