A GARDA motorcyclist has been left with permanent injuries after being struck head-on by a 4x4 vehicle which sent him flying nine metres through the air into a ditch.
Garda Conor Ledwith of Galway Garda station was in hospital for weeks and is still on crutches awaiting three corrective operations following the incident which took place on May 5th last on the outskirts of Galway city.
Garda Philip Staunton said his colleague had three hairline fractures to his skull and pelvis and two broken wrists.
He could still only walk with the aid of two crutches while wearing a brace on his left knee.
The court heard he had undergone operations for his injuries and would have to have three more corrective operations in the coming year.
A surgeon’s medical report handed into Galway District Court yesterday concluded that the garda would not make a full recovery from some of his injuries sustqained in the incident.
Krystian Roz Ycki (49), a Polish national living in Barna, Co Galway, for the last five years, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving at 10pm on May 5th last year at Headford Road, Galway.
Garda Staunton said Ycki was attempting to overtake an articulated lorry which was travelling at 80km/h, on a straight stretch of road, when he collided head-on at speed with Garda Ledwith’s motorcycle.
The court heard Garda Ledwith had flashed his lights continually at the jeep seconds before the impact but the accused had failed to see his motorcycle until it was too late to avoid hitting him.
Judge Mary Fahy said it had been a “gross error of judgement” and fined Ycki €1,000 and disqualified him from driving for three years.