A Galwayman who was a passenger in a car which was involved in a high speed chase by gardaí in which a number of suspicious items was found, along with a bag containing cutting equipment, was fined €250 in Ballyhaunis District Court this week after pleading guilty to not giving gardai his name.
Kenneth Bohan, 5 St Judes Apartments, Ballybrit, Galway, was a passenger in a car which was passed by Garda David Donnelly who was on patrol with a colleague in a squad car on December 19 2008 on Knock Road, Ballyhaunis at 12.45am.
Garda Donnelly told the court that as he passed he noticed all three men in the car were wearing caps, and that the car then took off at high speed. Garda Donnelly continued his evidence saying that he took off in pursuit of the car and chased after it at speeds of up to 150km per hour. At one stage they lost sight of the car as they went around a bad bend and when the Garda car rounded the corner he had to swerve to avoid a black holdall which had been thrown in the middle of the road.
Garda Donnelly went on to say that he kept chase of the car and eventually the car stopped after it turned into a cul de sac. The two front seat occupants of the car fled the scene on foot and were never apprehended, but he was able to arrest Bohan at 1.42am.
He continued his evidence telling the court that a number of suspicious items were found in the car when it was searched including balaclavas and spare pairs of shoes.
The black holdall which was in the middle of the road was collected by another patrol car which was responding to the incident, and inside the gardaí found snips, an angle grinder, heavy duty cutting discs, and more balaclavas.
The court was also told that Bohan had 12 previous convictions including one for possession of drugs for sale or supply and another for handling stolen property.
Defence solicitor Evan O’Dwyer told the court that his client was a 35-year-old man who is gainfully employed, and that while he did have a criminal record the majority of those were when he was very close to being a minor and he has entered a plea of guilty to the offence with which he was charged.
Judge Mary Devins enquired if there was anybody else arrested in relation to the incident, to which she was told there was not. She convicted and fined Bohan €250.
