Courts / Dublin / Report

Suspended sentence for pregnant driver who led gardai on high-speed chase

Date
2019-10-25

Stage
Sentence

Primary locality
Dublin

County
Dublin

Summary

Eileen Ryan, 26, pregnant and six months along, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to driving with unrestrained children, dangerous driving, and driving without insurance on 25 March 2018. Two children, aged two and five, sat in the back without seat belts. Garda Michael Brisbane described a high‑speed chase in Tallaght where the car broke red lights, drove over the white line, and swerved, with glass bottles thrown at the patrol car. Ryan was abusive, smelled of alcohol, and had slurred speech. She refused blood samples and had four prior District Court convictions. The judge imposed a four‑year suspended sentence, conditional on Ryan keeping the peace for three years, and a mandatory four‑year driving ban. The case was heard in the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, with no further verdicts reported in the article.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Suspended sentence for pregnant driver who led gardai on high-speed chase. Charges or matters: driving in the presence of unrestrained children in a manner risking serious harm or death, at locations between Brookview Road and Cheeverstown Road, on March 25, 2018; refusing to permit a designated doctor take blood samples at Tallaght Garda Station on the same occasion. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

March 25, 2018 Hearing Or Sentence
2019-10-25 Publication

Case subjects

Eileen Ryan

Defendant

Charges: driving in the presence of unrestrained children in a manner risking serious harm or death, at locations between Brookview Road and Cheeverstown Road, on March 25, 2018; refusing to permit a designated doctor take blood samples at Tallaght Garda Station on the same occasion (Admitted)

Plea: Guilty

Outcome: Judge Ryan imposed a four-year sentence suspended on condition Ryan keep the peace for three years.