The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc) has issued an appeal for witnesses after a man suffered serious injuries on the M50 in Dublin in an incident involving a Garda car. The victim, a 23-year-old Brazilian man living in Dublin, was with friends on the motorway as they tried to locate a motorbike stolen from one of them.
Anderson Farias, mayor of the city of São José dos Campos in southeastern Brazil, has confirmed his son was the victim of the incident.
“With deep sadness, I share that my son, João Henrique, suffered a serious accident in Ireland and is undergoing a second surgery in the hospital,” he said on the X social media platform, formerly Twitter. “The distance squeezes my heart, as I cannot be by his side in this difficult time.
“My wife is on her way to Dublin to provide support. At this moment, as a father, I ask everyone to pray for my son, so that he finds the necessary strength and comes out of this situation even stronger.”
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It appears Mr Farias and his friends were following the signal from a tracking device on the stolen bike, which led them to the M50 near Tallaght on Saturday afternoon, with gardaí also on the scene. Some of the Brazilian men were stopped at the side of the M50 close to crash barriers when Mr Farias was injured as a Garda car crashed.
The precise circumstances of the collision, and how all parties came to be stopped on the M50 at about 3.15pm on Saturday, are now under investigation. The case has been referred by the Garda to Gsoc for investigation. Any incident in which a person is seriously injured or killed at, or around, the time they have had dealings with Garda members must be investigated by Gsoc.
The injured man, who has been working as a delivery driver in Dublin, was taken to Tallaght University Hospital having suffered a serious injury to his right leg. He is believed to have been living in Ireland for about five years with his partner.
Gsoc, a Garda watchdog agency, issued a statement saying the incident occurred on the northbound carriageway of the M50, at junction 11 Tallaght, where the northbound on-ramp merges with the motorway.
“Gsoc would like to speak to any witnesses who observed any incident, activity or interactions at this time and location,” it said in its witness appeal. “Gsoc would also welcome the provision of any CCTV, dashcam or mobile footage witnesses may have captured.”
Gsoc added the crash was referred to it by a Garda superintendent on Saturday, under the provisions of the Garda Síochána Act, and it would be making no further comment at this time. The section of the M50 where the crash occurred remained closed off overnight into Sunday morning to facilitate an examination of the scene.
Garda Headquarters, Phoenix Park, Dublin, on Saturday confirmed the incident involved an official Garda vehicle and a pedestrian. On Sunday it said as the investigation was now being carried out by Gsoc, any queries should be addressed to that agency.
While video footage of another incident, involving an apparent dispute between two men on foot on the M50, emerged on Saturday, it is unrelated to the crash now under investigation by Gsoc.
