Laughing granddad emptied bag of cannabis on Garda car during chase
Grass-carrying grandparents tried to outrun garda car in Knock
A grandfather who hung out the window of a car and emptied a bag of cannabis onto a chasing squad car’s windscreen while laughing was sentenced to a total of nine months in prison last week.
Thomas Finn, of Drum, Knock, was before the court for the possession of cannabis, obstruction under the Misuse of Drugs Act on April 9, 2013, and failure to stop for a member of An Garda Síochána later that year, on October 26, 2013. His partner Charlotte O’Donohue of the same address, also appeared before the court on two counts of dangerous driving in Knock on April 9, 2013.
The court heard that gardaí set up surveillance in Drum after the couple, who are the parents of seven children and the grandparents of one, were seen outside Mr Finn’s house in a car. Garda David Bramley said that later, elsewhere in Drum, he and a colleague observed Finn jumping over a gate with an orange package and into the waiting car, driven by Ms O’Donohue at 6pm.
The gardaí blocked the Drum Road, but O’Donohue manoeuvred the car past the Garda car and continued to drive through Eden, Knock. With the gardaí in pursuit, Finn leaned his full torso out the passenger window of the car shouted ‘f**k off’. His body language was aggressive, the court heard.
Garda Bramley said Finn then opened the orange package and emptied it. Its contents, a herbal substance, landed on the garda car’s windscreen. The Garda said at this point Mr Finn was laughing at them.
The car then failed to stop at Shanvaghera, Knock, and turned right onto the N17, causing oncoming cars to take evasive action to avoid it. The car eventually stopped at 6.10pm, when the couple were arrested. Following a search of the car, cannabis was found in the footwell of the passenger side of the car.
Defending solicitor Cathy McDarby said Ms O’Donoghue was a 43-year-old mother of seven and grandmother, and had made the ‘very stupid decision’ to comply with her partner’s request that she drive the car. Ms O’Donohue, who has six previous convictions, was sentenced to a three-month prison term for dangerous driving at Drum. She also was disqualified from driving for two years and fined €300. The second dangerous-driving charge was reduced to careless driving, for which she was fined €150.
Though Judge Devins told the court that the prison sentence was ‘merited and proportionate’, following an appeal by Ms McDarby, the judge adjourned sentencing to October 21, awaiting a probation report.
Mr Finn was convicted of the possession of cannabis, received a three-month prison term and a €300 fine, and was given a further six-month prison term and a €200 fine for obstruction.
He also received a €100 fine for the failure to stop for a member of An Garda Síochána on October 26, 2013.
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