Chairman of the Road Safety Authority Gay Byrne has said that the judicial "leniency" shown to two men who drove at speeds up to 200km/h on the Mullingar bypass while videoing themselves undermined the work of the Garda and the Road Safety Authority.
Mr Byrne told The Irish Times that members of the Garda had "risked their lives" to apprehend the men only to watch them walk from court without a driving ban.
Tommy Gorman (34), Milltownpass, Co Westmeath, and Alberto Rizzini (23), Slanemore, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, were convicted and fined €2,000 each for dangerous driving before Judge John F Neilan at Mullingar District Court on Wednesday.
Describing the sentencing as "outrageously lenient", Mr Byrne said: "If I'd been the judge I'd have banned them for at least three years, given them a hefty fine and heaped their licence with penalty points. Members of the Road Safety Authority, just like the Garda, could be forgiven for feeling like they're wasting their time."
Following the judge's outspoken opposition yesterday of RTÉ's screening of the video footage of the men driving at excessive speed, Mr Byrne said he did not condemn the broadcast. "It's completely irrelevant who released the tape. It doesn't matter to me. If broadcasting such a tape on the 9 o'clock news makes more people aware of what goes on, then it's not a bad thing."
The Garda Press Office last night confirmed that Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy has appointed a senior officer to investigate the circumstances surrounding the release of the video to RTÉ and the court case itself. The chief superintendent, who was not named, yesterday began an investigation into the affair. RTÉ last night declined to comment on their decision to broadcast the footage.
Mr Byrne also said the two men "got away with murder" and that the general public was appalled by the leniency of the sentence. "Judges will eventually have to cotton on that the people of Ireland are definitely not prepared to sit by and watch any two galloons act that way.
"These two were not kids. What age to you need to be before you grow up?"