Friday, February 28, 2014
Man left baby as he fled crash
A MAN crashed a car at the end of a high speed chase with gardaí and fled, leaving the baby behind. Dean Coleman drove off at speed, broke traffic lights and mounted a footpath because he knew there were warrants out for his arrest and wanted to spend Christmas with his child and partner. Judge Mary Ellen Ring said: ‘He was seeking to save his own skin by putting his son at risk of death.’ Coleman, of Maple Road, Newbridge, Co Kildare, pleaded guilty to two counts of driving with reckless endangerment and three counts of criminal damage in Dublin city on December 15 last. The father of one drove at high speed when gardaí tried to carry out a routine traffic stop on his car. He drove through residential areas, driving straight through or the wrong way on roundabouts, crashing the Volvo car into a number of occupied cars, before continuing to drive on at speed. The chase ended when Coleman lost control of the car and mounted a footpath. The car crashed into a pole, hit a gate and railings and spun to the other side of the road where it crashed into a wall. Coleman ran off, leaving the engine running with his baby son strapped into a child seat in the back of the car. Gardaí discovered
by declan brennan the baby crying when they went to turn the car engine off. Judge Ring said that it would take time before the extent of the psychological damage caused to the child was known. Garda Mark Melbourne told the court Coleman was found hiding behind a bin in a nearby garden. He was arrested and tested positive for cannabis. The court heard he has 27 previous convictions including five for dangerous driving and five for driving with no insurance. At the time of these offences he was on bail for making a threat to kill or cause serious harm. In July 2013 he received an eight-year driving ban for dangerous driving. Seamus Clarke BL, defending, said that it was ironic that his client drove away from gardaí to avoid his arrest because he wanted to spend Christmas with his then partner and their baby son. He said that as a result of his actions his partner left him. He said that Mr Coleman’s father was a soldier and his family were good, decent people. He said they had moved to Kildare when Coleman began getting into trouble at a younger age to try to put him back on a good path. Coleman was jailed for 4 years.
Father was found hiding behind a bin
STEVIE WONDER: Former professional cyclist Stephen Roche has been named as this year’s Grand Marshal of Dublin’s St Patrick’s Day Parade. Festival organisers said Roche, who is one of only two cyclists to win the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia and the World Road Race Championship in the same year, was chosen for the role because of his ‘outstanding contribution to the sport of cycling’. Earlier in the week, the Dundrum native was inducted into the Giro d’Italia Hall of Fame in Northern Ireland Picture: PA
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