BY DAVID FORSYTHE
A MOTORIST who abandoned his crashed car in a roadside ditch and went home to bed in the early hours of the morning has been convicted of careless driving.
Insp Anthony Harrington told Macroom Court that Donagh Jeremiah Callanan, 54, of Toames West, Macroom was pleading not guilty to two charges of driving without due care and attention on August 30th, 2023.
Witness Gearoid O’Brien said that he was driving on the N22 near Farnanes heading towards Macroom when he noticed a BMW car behind him. He told the court that he was travelling at 75-80kph when he was overtaken by the car on a dashed white line. Mr O’Brien said that he turned off the N22 and about 10 minutes later came across the same BMW crashed into a ditch at the T junction just past the Danone factory.
Mr O’Brien said the car had gone up onto the ditch on the far side of the road. There was smoke coming from the engine and the driver’s door was open but there was nobody in the car. He said he recognised it as the same car that had overtaken him on the N22 by its distinctive rear lights. Mr O’Brien contacted gardaí to report the incident.
Garda Heather Chandler took the call at 1am. She said there was extensive damage to the front of the vehicle, the airbags had deployed, and there was smoke coming from the engine. Gda Chandler told the court there was no evidence of debris on the road other than that of the crashed vehicle. She told the court that, in her opinion, the car had come down the hill from the direction of the N22 and failed to stop at the stop sign and gone straight across the junction into the ditch.
Gda Chandler made enquiries and established that the owner of the vehicle was Donagh Callanan who lived nearby. Gda Chandler said that she was concerned somebody may have been injured and called to Mr Callanan’s address to check. When she knocked at the door there was initially no answer but Mr Callanan’s son did eventually answer and told the garda his father was in bed.
Mr Callanan came to the door and told Gda Chandler he was okay. He said that he had been driving the car earlier but had parked it in his driveway. When Gda Chandler asked Mr Callanan about a cut to his leg he said he had got the injury playing tennis.
Mr Callanan later admitted that he was in fact the driver of the car, when he gave a statement at Macroom Garda Station. He apologised for misleading gardaí and said that he had got a ‘bad fright’ on the night and was confused to be woken by strangers in his house in the early hours of the morning. Mr Callanan said in his statement that he had skidded on leaves and gravel at the junction, but did not think he had to report the accident as there was nobody else involved. He said that the car would not start after the accident so he decided to go home as his house was only a five-minute walk from the scene and he went to bed for a lie down.
Defence solicitor Paul Derham claimed there was no evidence of dangerous driving relating to the first charge at Farnanes where Mr Callanan overtook Mr O’Brien. He said that the second incident had clearly occurred but there was nothing to suggest that careless driving was the cause. He said that a reason for the accident had been given relating to the gravel and leaves on the road.
Judge Marie Keane said that in relation to the first charge at Farnanes the evidence did not meet the threshold for careless driving and she struck out the charge. In relation to the second charge at the T junction she said it was ‘quite apparent the person did not stop’, adding that there was no evidence from anyone else that there was debris on the road. The judge said: ‘It is clear that the person driving that vehicle was not in a position to control it.’
The court heard that Mr Callanan had five previous convictions, including one for careless driving from 2011. The solicitor said his client had dealt with the matter and nobody else involved or injured as a result of the accident.
Judge Keane said that it was ‘only by the mercy of God’ that nobody else was injured. She said that Mr Callanan had been ‘evasive and untruthful’ with gardaí and his behaviour was ‘appalling carry-on’. She convicted Mr Callanan of driving without due care and attention and fined him €500, allowing four months to pay. Recognisance in the event of appeal was fixed in his own bond of €200 cash.
