By Brion Hoban
A man who dragged a garda along the ground while driving away in a car which gardaí were attempting to seize has been jailed for two years.
John Jervis (43) was given permission by gardaí to get tools out of one of two cars they were attempting to seize, but he then got into a car and drove away while a garda was holding onto his shoulder.
Jervis of Cranouge Road, Ballymun, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Courts to endangerment at that address on November 5, 2020.
He has 105 previous convictions, including convictions for unauthorised taking, theft, possession of drugs for sale or supply and road traffic offences.
Passing sentence, Judge Melanie Greally said gardaí accommodated Jervis by permitted him to access the cars and he seized that opportunity to flee in circumstances that were “highly dangerous”.
The judge said she accepts there may have been “high emotions” in play, but that in no way mitigates the serious nature of what he did or the impact it has had on the garda.
Judge Greally sentenced Jervis to two-and-a-half years imprisonment, but suspended the final six months on strict conditions, including that he abstain from all illicit substances for 12 months post release.
Sergeant Damien Leahy told Derek Cooney BL, prosecuting, that on the date in question, gardaí arrived at the address in Ballymun with warrants to seize a gold Land Rover and a black Audi car, both of which they believed belonged to Jervis.
Sgt Leahy said that when gardaí explained the situation to Jervis, he asked to be allowed to remove tools from the Land Rover. Gardaí allowed him to do so and he took a number of items from the boot before leaving them on the road.
Jervis then claimed he wanted to remove items from the Audi, got inside the car and turned it on while the driver’s door was still open. A garda grabbed him by the shoulder and instructed him to turn the car off.
The accused got the car in gear and accelerated aggressively forward, pulling the garda alongside. While being dragged the garda narrowly missed colliding with a parked patrol car.
Jervis stopped the car suddenly to avoid hitting gardaí and members of his family in front of him, giving the garda time to extract himself from the car and roll away. The car then drove away from the scene, driving over the tools Jervis had left on the ground.
Sgt Leahy agreed with Mark Lynam BL, defending, that the offence happened in the context of gardaí being distracted dealing with “something of a public order incident” in which people present were arguing with gardaí as they attempted to seize the cars.
He agreed with counsel that his client was homeless at the time of the offence and was sleeping in his car. He agreed that Jervis wished to express an apology for what happened.
Mr Lynam said his client began using drugs aged 16, but got clean aged 21 and began a family. He said his client relapsed during a period of estrangement when he was out of the family home and was homeless.
Counsel said his client has gotten his heroin addiction under control while in custody and he intends to live in the family home again upon his release.
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