By Garrett Hargan
A teenager accused of driving a van along the pedestrian walkway at Derry’s quay was lucky he ‘didn’t kill anybody’, the city’s Magistrates Court has heard.
The 16-year-old has been charged with numerous driving offences including driving dangerously, driving while disqualified (due to his age), driving while unfit, failing to stay or report an accident and taking a vehicle without authority on April 27/28.
A police officer told the court that the defendant is in shared care between his father and a care home in the south of Ireland.
Connecting him to the charges, he said the PSNI were informed that a blue van heading in the direction of Derry had failed to stop for An Garda Síochána at Bridgend, Donegal.
PSNI officers then observed the vehicle driving along the Strand Road in the direction of Sainsburys when the car turned off the road into Smyths Toys car park. Police signalled for him to stop but he ‘made off’ and mounted a footpath onto the pedestrian walkway at the quay where he drove 50-100 metres, according to the officer.
The PSNI officers attempted to stop him again but he performed a three-point-turn and tried to pass through a gap between the police car and a wall. In doing so, he collided with the PSNI vehicle causing damage to the front of it. The officers were said to have experienced neck pain as a result.
Due to his ‘erratic driving manner’ police giving chase thought the blue van was going to ‘end up in the Foyle’. The defendant was then said to have driven around KFC and Smyths again before entering the pedestrian walkway for a second time when he travelled in the direction of the Council offices.
A section of the pathway narrows to a ‘choke point’ just in front of the council offices which forced the defendant to abandon the vehicle, the police officer added.
Following his arrest, the teenager admitted taking the vehicle as he wanted to meet friends in Derry but ‘couldn’t get a lift’. When he saw police ‘he panicked’, the officer explained, and he didn’t intend on or even realise he had struck the police car.
The 16-year-old blew a preliminary breath test reading of 27mg per 100ml of breath but a specimen of blood was taken as he was ‘extremely lethargic’ and officers believed he may have been under the influence of drugs.
The blue van was said to belong to his father, who had sold it to a ‘male in Africa’, but it is still in his name.
Objecting to bail, the officer said there was a fear the teenager would abscond, he had left the scene of an accident in the past and his driving showed ‘no regard for other road users’.
Defence solicitor Ciaran McGuinness said his client has no convictions in Northern Ireland and if released on bail his carers would ensure he came back before the court. The teenager understands that what he did was wrong and has accepted culpability, he added.
‘Absolute madness’
District Judge Peter King said the facts of the case brought to mind the ‘driving acts’ at Westminster and Barcelona last year. “It’s absolutely amazing he didn’t kill anybody, it was absolute madness,” he added.
The District Judge believed there were no conditions he could put in place to prevent the teenager from ‘engaging in these actions again’. He cited a history of absconding and said An Garda Síochána were looking to speak to him.
Refusing bail, he said: “You drove with complete and utter disdain for other road users and pedestrians. The only way to ensure you won’t do it again is to remand you in custody.”
The 16-year-old will appear at Derry Youth Court by way of video link tomorrow, May 1.
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