Shane Ward to have licence restored early after dangerous driving conviction

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Shane Ward is to have his driving licence restored early after Judge Martin Nolan shortened his disqualification at a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court hearing on 3 July 2024.

The judge reduced the six-year ban by 15 months, allowing Ward to have his licence restored after four years and nine months. The report said he could resume driving in November 2025 instead of February 2027. Judge Nolan said Ward had driven recklessly and caused serious injuries, but accepted that the court should not impede his rehabilitation.

Ward pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing serious harm, driving without insurance and leaving the scene. The offences arose from a collision at Drimnagh Luas stop on 30 January 2020. In February 2021, Judge Nolan sentenced him to two years in prison and disqualified him from driving for six years. Ward served 18 months of the sentence.

Ward had driven a scrambler along a footpath and struck a pedestrian from behind. She suffered a brain bleed, facial fractures and a broken arm, and underwent multiple surgeries. Ward and his motorcycle ended up in the canal; he climbed out and left on a friend's bike.

Garda Eamon Kearney opposed reducing the ban, citing the injuries and saying Ward had not assisted the investigation before arraignment. Ward's counsel, Laoise de Brún, said he had fled in a moment of panic and that his continued disqualification impeded his mobile valeting business. At sentencing, defence counsel said Ward was ashamed of his actions and of leaving the scene, and had raised €10,000 as a token of remorse, which the victim was willing to accept.