A mother-of-three who drove her car onto the pavement on O'Connell Street in Dublin and knocked down two women following an earlier disagreement has been ordered to do 240 hours community service.
Rebecca Coates (29), Corduff Grove, Blanchardstown, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to charges of reckless endangerment, driving in a manner that was dangerous to the public and failure to stay for a reasonable period at the scene after causing injury. She also admitted causing damage to another car and failure to give proper information at the scene.
Mr Paul Greene BL, defending, told Judge Michael White that since the sentence hearing earlier this month inquiries had been made of Coates's insurance company to assess whether the company would pay out compensation to her victims.
He said the facts and her guilty plea had been explained to the company by a garda and that the defence would now seek confirmation to ensure the company would not renounce her claim because of those facts. Judge White said the victims were entitled to compensation and put the case back until July 28th to assess that issue. He also ordered a probation and welfare report to assess suitability for community service. During the earlier sentence hearing Mr Greene said Coates was remorseful for her action. She had lost her grandmother shortly before the incident which may have been a factor in her "irrational behaviour".
Mr Greene said she had since "lost another family member", her brother, referring to Mr Shane Coates who has been described by gardaí as a member of the west Dublin criminal Westies gang whom they wish to interview in connection with a shoot-out in Cavan last year.
Mr Coates has been declared "missing" in Alicante, Spain, along with another alleged Westie, Mr Stephen Sugg.
Garda Paul Mullan told Mr Bernard Condon BL, prosecuting, that the incident began outside Club M in Temple Bar in the early hours of June 17th, 2003. Two of the victims, Ms Mary Quinn and Ms Anne Marie Dobbins, were leaving the disco with a man called Mr Jonathan Quinn and there was "some contact" between Mr Quinn and Coates. The two women and Mr Quinn then went to O'Connell Street. Some time later a taxi driver saw a white Nissan Micra before it struck his car on the right hand side. He followed the driver onto O'Connell Street where she drove through a red light.
Garda Mullan said Coates was then observed driving near the footpath before she launched the car forward. One woman fell down in front of the car and witnesses said they could see the car's wheels spinning and could smell burning rubber. A female voice was heard shouting: "You've made your point Rebecca. For f***s sake stop it!"