A BIKER PULLED away from an unmarked garda car at a speed of 240 km/h – twice the motorway speed limit – because he thought he was under attack, a court heard today.
At Ennis District Court today, Gintaras Kasakas (53) of Rath Lodge, Ashbourne, Co Meath appeared charged with dangerous driving on the M18 motorway at Barefield outside Ennis on 30 July last.
Motorists convicted of dangerous driving face an automatic driving ban and solicitor for Kasakas, Daragh Hassett applied that the charge be reduced to one of careless driving.
In court, Garda Ronan Higgins gave an outline of the evidence where he stated that he came upon Kasakas on his 01 registered motor bike driving at a speed of 190 km/h on the northbound M18 motorway outside Ennis.
He said: “At that stage, we activated the blue lights and sirens and shortly after he took off and he was at this stage well in excess of 200 km/h.”
Garda Higgins said:
The road was very wet. I was doing 220 km/h and he was still pulling ahead. We deactivated the blue lights and sirens because we deemed it too dangerous to continue on. He was banking the bike as he was going around cars.
Judge Durcan said that Kasakas must have been going at a speed of 240 km/h at this stage.
In reply, Garda Higgins said: “I would imagine – yes.”
Garda Higgins said that they came across Kasakas standing beside his motorcycle at the Crusheen exit which is located 14km north of Ennis.
Explaining why his client was going so fast, Hassett said that Kasakas “is a member of a motor bike club and as the court will know, these clubs have come into certain media notoriety in recent months and the last hubbub was in relation to incidents elsewhere”
“The garda car was unmarked in this case and the defendant here, perhaps irrationally, thought he was under attack. That is why he accelerated away from the car.”
Hassett added:
Realising that it was in fact a State vehicle, Mr Kavakas pulled in when he realised this wasn’t someone who was going to attack him and that is when he met Garda Higgins and he was stopped, arrested and brought to the station.
In reply, Judge Patrick Durcan said: “Irrespective of what was behind him, the issue is not the fact that he was being pursued by gardai. The issue is that he was travelling at a speed in excess of 220 km/h at a time on the motorway when the weather was inclement.”
Judge Durcan said: “There isn’t an element of carelessness in it, there is an element of recklessness and it was highly dangerous.”
Judge Durcan said that the charge of dangerous driving stands and refused the application to reduce the charge.
In reply, Hassett said that his client would be contesting the charge as there is an automatic disqualification to dangerous driving.
Judge Durcan adjourned the case to next Wednesday to fix a date and said that he wouldn’t hear the case as he has heard the evidence.
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