Man 'acting as a drugs mule' is jailed after he collided with garda car near Lorrha

A driver who was the subject of a garda pursuit from near Toomevara to Portumna bridge has been jailed for possession of drugs for sale or supply, endangerment and dangerous driving by Judge John Martin at Nenagh Circuit Criminal Court.

Jonathan O’Donnell of Boula, Portumna, pleaded to the offences at Lahinch, Lorrha on March 25, 2019. He also pleaded to having no insurance on the same date.

Det Garda Seamus Kelly told the court that he was on patrol and observed a vehicle driving at speed at Templedowney. He activated the patrol car’s blue light and the vehicle came to a halt. The driver began to “fidget” and took off at speed towards Toomevara.

Near Ballymackey, the driver again stopped and took off at speed, failing to stop at a stop sign and pulling out on to the road in a dangerous manner.

The vehicle failed to stop at a stop sign at Wilton, where it was travelling at approximately 80km/h.

A decision to stand down the pursuit was made near Cloughjordan. However, coming into the village, there was a line of traffic near the stop sign and the driver was observed in the traffic. The blue light was activated but the car took off at speed and travelled on the incorrect side of the road.

He knew the driver was heading towards Portumna and the gardaí there were alerted and set up a checkpoint on the bridge.

The driver spotted the blue lights on the bridge and attempted to reverse, colliding with the garda patrol car on the Tipperary side at Lahinch, Lorrha, causing €7,436.94 damage.

Mr O’Donnell was searched and 544 Alprazolam tablets valued at €1,088 were found in a bag in his possession.

He failed to produce insurance or a driving licence.

When he was subsequently arrested, Mr O’Donnell said that he had failed to stop because of the amount of drugs he was carrying.

He said that they were for someone else and he would get to keep 20 tablets for himself.

Garda Kelly agreed with Suzanne Gorey, BL, for Mr O’Donnell that the defendant had been co-operative once his vehicle was brought to a halt.

Mr O’Donnell had admitted that the drugs were to clear a drug debt and he was bringing them from Tipperary to Galway. He had taken around 25 tablets and had limited recall of what had happened.

Garda Kelly agreed that Mr O’Donnell’s driving was to evade capture. He had paid €2,250 in compensation for damage to the garda car.

Ms Gorey said that her client, who was 27-years-old and had three children, had a “chaotic start to life”.

She said Mr O’Donnell had a lot of tragedy in his life, including the death of his brother.

“He was involved in the transport of drugs because of a drugs debt,” she said. However, he was now on the right path for the first time in his life.

Judge Martin said possession of drugs and endangerment were “serious matters”

While he accepted Mr O’Donnell had a “chaotic start to life”, he had been “acting as a mule to settle a debt”.

“You might be a small cog, but you are an essential cog,” he said.

Judge Martin sentenced Mr O’Donnell to three years in jail for possession of drugs for sale or supply, with two years concurrent for endangerment and six months concurrent for dangerous driving.

He suspended the final 12 months of the three-year sentence if Mr O’Donnell entered a bond to keep the peace for two years following his release.