A woman who endangered the life of a garda during a high-speed chase which she live-streamed has been sentenced to two years in prison.
Gemma Greene (28) of Bunratty Road, Coolock, Dublin, pleaded guilty to recklessly engaging in conduct in such a manner as to drive in the direction of a garda who was out of his vehicle, forcing him to take evasive measures to stop him from being struck on the M50 motorway at junction 9 northbound on March 1st, 2021.
She also pleaded guilty to two counts of dangerous driving on the same date in the Coolock and Ballymun areas.
Greene has four previous convictions, two of which are for road traffic matters and two for Covid-19 travel.
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Passing sentence on Wednesday, Judge Martin Nolan said, “On the day in question, the defendant was driving and was instructed to stop her car by gardaí. She proceeded to drive away around the county of Dublin for one hour at very high speeds.”
Judge Nolan noted that a garda had to take evasive action at one stage as the car was driven at him at high speed. He said that “this garda could have been seriously injured or killed”.
Judge Nolan said he was being as lenient as possible, but a prison sentence had to be imposed. He sentenced Greene to two years in prison. He also disqualified her from driving for four years.
Garda Rob Hogan told Maddie Grant BL, prosecuting, that on the day in question, at 6pm, gardaí observed Greene driving a white Mercedes dangerously on the M50. Greene failed to stop her car and continued to drive dangerously while under an active garda pursuit by road and by garda air support.
CCTV footage from the garda helicopter was played to the court, and it showed three patrol cars in pursuit with their blue lights activated.
The court heard Greene travelled at speeds up to 200km/h and drove at excess speeds in 50km zones and pedestrian areas. The gardaí deployed stringers on multiple occasions, but Greene was able to avoid them.
Greene put her mobile phone out of the car window during the chase and live-streamed the incident.
Gda Hogan said members of the Garda Armed Support Unit stopped traffic near Junction 9 Northbound.
Garda Sergeant Darren Blackwall had left his patrol car to deploy the stinger. Greene drove towards the hard shoulder to avoid the stinger. Gda Sgt Blackwall had to take evasive action to avoid being struck by Greene.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Greene was stopped at 6.50pm. She was arrested, detained, and charged.
Gda Hogan agreed with Gregory Murphy BL, defending, that his client has abided by all her bail conditions and that her guilty plea was of value to the prosecution.
Mr Murphy said his client has deep, sincere remorse and that her actions on the day were out of character. He added that on the day in question, Greene had taken cocaine.
