by Seán McCárthaigh
The grandson of a prominent Traveller rights campaigner was killed after his vehicle crashed into a tree in Dublin while being followed by gardaí who suspected him of drink driving.
An inquest at Dublin Coroner’s Court heard Patrick Joyce (24), a grandson of the co-founder of the Committee for the Rights of Travellers, Nan Joyce, was killed instantly in the collision at the junction of the Malahide Road and Clontarf Road in Fairview in the early hours of August 10th, 2018.
Mr Joyce had travelled from his home in Belfast to Dublin for his grandmother’s funeral and had left a family gathering at McAuley Park in Artane with his mother, Margaret, and younger brother, Richard, both of whom were in the vehicle, after a dispute.
In a written statement, Ms Joyce, who suffered serious injuries in the crash, claimed she had no recollection of the incident.
Garda Damien Farrell, a forensic collision expert, said CCTV footage had allowed him to estimate that Mr Joyce’s vehicle was travelling at a speed of 106-116km/h just before the impact.
Garda Olin Keating, who was driving the patrol car, said he had first come across Mr Joyce’s vehicle near the Malahide Road in Artane after reports that an unknown male, who appeared intoxicated, was taking off in a vehicle.
Garda Keating said the driver of the jeep seemed highly intoxicated and was driving in an erratic manner.
He took the decision to turn on the patrol car’s flashing lights and sirens as there was “a moral and ethical imperative” to alert other users of the threat but the vehicle failed to stop.
Red lights
Garda Keating said he became increasingly concerned about the situation as the jeep was travelling at speed through red lights at major junctions on the Malahide Road.
Asked by the coroner, Dr Crona Gallagher, if the use of the lights and siren might have encouraged Mr Joyce to keep driving, Garda Keating said he believed the victim would have continued driving regardless.
“There was no likelihood he was going to stop,” he added.
Garda Keating said he regarded the patrol car as following the jeep at a safe distance rather than being “in pursuit” of it.
The inquest heard an investigation by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission into the incident had made no findings.
Taxi driver, Troy Tilley, who witnessed the collision said it looked “like a crash test where they ram a car into a wall.”
Mr Tilley said gardaí had initially thought that the driver may have escaped into Fairview Park but he knew nobody could have escaped from the collision.
Another eyewitness, Seán McGinley, described the vehicle being thrown up in the air by the force of the impact and being turned 180 degrees around.
Mr McGinley said it had taken about five minutes before the driver’s body was discovered in the debris outside the vehicle.
Evidence was also heard that Mr Joyce’s phone was being used for a live Facebook chat at the time of the crash with the person at the other end being able to assist gardaí with the identification of the victim.
Inspector Liam Donoghue, who led the Garda investigation into the fatal collision, provided evidence that gardaí had been following Mr Joyce’s jeep for less than three minutes with a gap of at least four seconds between vehicles.
He said there were unconfirmed reports that Mr Joyce’s father had tried to prevent him getting into the vehicle.
No members of the Joyce family attended the inquest and evidence was heard that family members at the gathering had refused to provide statements to gardaí.
A post mortem found Mr Joyce died from multiple traumatic injuries.
A toxicology report noted the presence of ecstasy, cocaine and benzodiazepines in his body while alcohol levels were three and a half times the legal drink driving limit.
Based on the evidence Dr Gallagher recorded a verdict of death by misadventure.