A mother-of-three who drove her car onto the pavement in Dublin and knocked down two women following a row has been ordered to do 240 hours community service in lieu of a two-year jail term.
Rebecca Coates (29) from Corduff Grove in 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 to the driver at the scene.
During the earlier sentence hearing Mr Paul Greene BL, defending, said Coates was remorseful for her action. She had lost her grandmother days 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. Both disappeared shortly after they left an apartment on the afternoon of January 31st last in a car driven by Mr Coates.
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 Jonathan Quinn and there was "some contact" between Mr Quinn and Coates.
The two women and Mr Quinn then went to O'Connell Street to get a take away. Some time later a taxi driver was waiting to turn left from Bachelor's Walk onto O'Connell Street when he saw a white Nissan Micra being driven down the middle lane of the road before it struck his car on the right hand side.
Gda Mullan said Coates was then observed driving near the footpath on O'Connell Street before she launched the car forward, mounting the footpath as people tried to get out of the way. 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.
Coates was later stopped by gardaí on Gardiner Street and told them that she had not meant to hit the women.
Judge Michael White said this was a serious offence in which both of the victims had suffered leg injuries and one of them was suffering on an ongoing basis with panic attacks.