Woman drove through Kildare junction with no lights pursued by gardaí
Incident
A car was driven through a road junction with no lights on, Naas District Court heard.
Before the court on June 22 was Daynah Rogers, 28 whose address was given as 2263 Maryville, Kildare.
She was prosecuted on two counts of dangerous driving at Downings Cross, near Prosperous and on the R145 near Kilmeague
Detective Garda Tom Connolly said he was in an unmarked garda car in Prosperous shortly after midnight on July 6 last when he drove up behind a Volvo car.
He said the vehicle's blue lights were activated and the gardaí signalled it to stop but “it took off at high speed.”
The vehicle was driven towards Kilmeague and had no lights on when it was driven across an injunction at Mylerstown, before turning right towards Robertstown.
The court heard the vehicle failed to stop on the route between Kilmeague and Allenwood and reached a speed of 145 km/h.
Det Gda Connolly, a Special Crimes Operations garda, said that control of the vehicle was lost and it struck an embankment on the right side of the road.
He also said the incident lasted nine minutes.
The court heard that the defendant has no previous convictions and a driving licence.
The vehicle is still on the road.
Det Gda Connolly said that alcohol and drugs tests were conducted on the driver and all came back negative.
He said the defendant gave no reason for the driving, adding “I can only speculate.”
The court also heard that there were two people in the vehicle and her boyfriend “would be known to the gardaí.”
Solicitor Tim Kennelly described the incident as a “completely out of character episode.”
He added: ”It doesn’t stand to reason, she has an unblemished record prior to this.”
An allegation of driving without insurance was withdrawn by the State.
Judge Desmond Zaidan said that driving on the roads in this manner is dangerous and could cause serious injury or death.
He also said that while no reason was given for the driving, it was not up to him to speculate on why it happened.
He imposed two consecutive five month custody terms and two concurrent driving bans of four hears each.