An e-bike rider who forced a garda to “basically clothesline” him after speeding at the officer on a footpath in a busy residential area, has had his conviction downgraded and his driving ban removed on appeal, despite a judge saying the defendant’s actions were “actually an outrage”.
Carl Tyrell (23) forced a garda to jump to the side and restrain him on the grass in an incident on Silloge Green, Ballymun.
In the District Court Appeals Court, Judge Ronan Munro decided to reduce Tyrell’s conviction for dangerous driving to the lesser charge of careless driving and dismissed his disqualification for having no insurance under the Probation of Offenders Act.
Tyrell, with an address in Ballymun, was convicted in the District Court of dangerous driving, contrary to section 53 of the Road Traffic Act, 1961.
He was fined €300 and given a disqualification from driving for two years. He was also convicted of having no insurance and no licence, where another two-year disqualification was imposed.
He later lodged an appeal against the severity of his sentence.
A garda told the court that he was on plain clothes patrol in a residential area in Ballymun on October 23, 2024 when he encountered a group that was loitering. He said that Tyrell was on e-bike and that he came towards him on the footpath.
The garda said that Tyrell was driving at speed for about 60 yards and that there were a number of other civilians in the area, including two children playing on the footpath.
He said that he identified himself as a garda member but Tyrell continued to drive at speed in his direction.
The garda said that he was forced to jump to the side and that they both landed on the grass. He said that he restrained Tyrell, who was arrested for dangerous driving.
Defence counsel, Seosaimhín Ní Chathasaigh BL, said that her client had no previous convictions and she asked the court’s discretion to reduce the offence from dangerous to careless driving.
Judge Munro said that he regarded the incident as an “extremely serious thing” and that the garda had to “basically clothesline” the appellant.
The judge said that Tyrell’s actions were “actually an outrage”.
Ms Ní Chathasaigh said that her client had accepted responsibility and that his job is dependent on him having a licence.
Judge Munro said that there “cannot be a repeat of this” and decided to reduce the dangerous driving charge to one of careless driving, leaving him without a disqualification, before imposing a fine of €50.
With regard to the conviction for having no insurance, he set aside Tyrell’s disqualification and applied Section 1(1)(ii) of the Probation of Offenders Act, 1907 to dismiss him on a bond for a period of three years.
He made the conditions that Tyrell must keep the peace and not ride a bike or motorbike capable of going faster than 25km/h.