A 34-year-old man who drove off and dragged a detective for over 80 feet along a roadway in West Cork as she tried to intercept a drug deal has been jailed for endangerment.
Judge Helen Boyle said that Martin Keohane’s behaviour had a huge impact on Det Garda Catherine McCarthy, the first female member of the West Cork Divisional Drugs Unit, as she suffered injuries in the incident that remain with her today.
“Det Garda McCarthy is entitled, as is every member of An Garda Siochana, to go to work in the morning and come home safe and well from her job,” said Judge Boyle as she noted Det Garda McCarthy suffered back and neck injuries that still impact on both her work and her family life.
Judge Boyle sentenced Keohane from Derrygareen, Skibbereen, Co Cork to four years in jail with one year suspended for endangerment of Det Garda McCarthy at Creagh, Baltimore, Co Cork on April 8th, 2021, contrary to Section 13 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act.
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Keohane also pleaded guilty at an earlier sitting of Cork Circuit Criminal Court to three other charges of dangerous driving causing serious harm to Det Garda McCarthy on the same occasion, impeding a garda in the course of their duty and to possession of cannabis for sale or supply.
Det Garda McCarthy said in her victim impact statement that, with colleagues from the West Cork Divisional Drugs Unit, they approached a car on a remote road at Creagh suspecting that a drugs transaction was taking place.
She said she approached the vehicle and identified herself as a member of An Garda Siochana to the driver, Martin Keohane, and asked him three times to turn off the car engine. She reached in to take the keys from the ignition only for Keohane to take off, dragging her alongside the car.
“Without warning, I heard tyres skidding on the gravel and next I was travelling in his car window shouting and begging him to stop. What happened relatively quickly felt like an eternity. With my legs uncontrollably dragging along the road, the speed was getting faster, and I thought I was going to get dragged underneath the car.
“I had no way of preventing this from happening. I have never experienced such fear, helping and foreboding feeling of ‘this is it I am going to die’. I still cannot remember how I came off the car and ended up lying on the opposite side of the road so far up from where I started,” she said in her statement.
“He (Keohane) drove off. An overpowering surge of anger and gratitude came over me. Gratitude that I was alive. As I tried to get my bearings, I realised I was very near the bend of the road and if a car came around the corner it would not expect me to be there, and I would again be driven over.
“I began to panic, shouted at my colleagues for help and attempted to shuffle into the ditch as I could not stand. I saw the shock on their faces. They came to my assistance,” said Det Garda McCarthy who also suffered injuries to her ankle when Keohane’s rear wheel went over her foot.
Det Gda McCarthy said the incident has had “broad ranging negative impacts” on her home and professional life. She has constant pain in her neck, mid- and lower back, and is prohibited from playing sports or even sitting playing on the ground with her children for long periods of time. She struggles to get through small tasks and pain relief.
Det Sgt Michael Lyons told the court that Det Garda McCarthy was dragged for approximately 80 feet by the accelerating car until she was pushed by Keohane from the moving vehicle.
He said that he contacted Keohane later than night by phone but the defendant refused to meet him. He met gardaí the following day when he made admissions and apologised for what he had done and the injuries he had caused to Det Garda McCarthy.
Defence counsel, Tom Creed SC, said that his client was aware of the devastation he had caused Det Gda McCarthy and had expressed remorse for his actions.
Judge Boyle noted Keohane’s guilty plea and his expression of remorse and apology and the fact that he had brought to €2,500 to court as compensation.
She said that Det Garda McCarthy was a committed professional and had attempted to return to work, but her injuries had meant that she had only been able to return to light duties. She feels that her career has been impeded because of the various absences due to her injuries.
Judge Boyle said she accepted that Keohane had issues with alcohol as an 18 year old and that he had later developed a dependence on cannabis which had caused strains with his own family, but she accepted that he was serious about seeking to address his addiction issues.
She noted that he was at a moderate risk of reoffending as she categorised the endangerment as being at the higher end of the scale for such offences. She sentenced him to four years in jail with one suspended and disqualified him from driving for a period of four years.
