A TEENAGER who drove down a one-way street during a high-speed garda chase was put off the road and ordered to do voluntary work.

Colin O’Donovan (19), of Kilbeg, Leap, appeared before Clonakilty District Court charged with unauthorised taking of a vehicle and two counts of dangerous driving.

Sgt Tom Mulcahy said that on July 13th 2024 at around 3:10am, gardaí attended the scene of an accident on Chapel Street in Dunmanway.

Sgt Mulcahy said: ‘Gardaí observed a blue BMW approaching them and then turning in the middle of the road on seeing the blue lights on the patrol car. Gardaí followed the car because he thought it was avoiding a garda check. The individual took off at speed to the centre of town.’

As Mr O’Donovan approached The Square in Dunmanway, he kept to the right of the street, driving on the wrong side of the road.

Sgt Mulcahy said: ‘He went down a one-way street at high speed and continued on to Castle Street, which was narrow as there were vehicles parked on either side of the street. He drove on to O’Donovan Rossa Terrace at high speed. The guards were behind him at all times, indicating for him to stop with blue lights and siren.’

Mr O’Donovan, who had no driver’s licence, drove off at speed leaving gardaí behind. The BMW, which crashed that night, was registered to another man. When questioned, Mr O’Donovan admitted that he did not have permission to use the car.

The car had been parked at The Parkway Hotel in Dunmanway. CCTV footage showed Mr O’Donovan taking the key from the fuel cap and driving off. The car was not reported stolen by its owner. Mr O’Donovan has four previous road traffic convictions, and was disqualified for two years for drink driving in April 2025.

Solicitor Conrad Murphy, defending, said: ‘Mr O’Donovan is 19 years of age and says he was at the owner’s house where alcohol was drunk. Mr O’Donovan was driving the vehicle back to the owner’s house and then encountered gardaí.’

He added that Mr O’Donovan’s father had a plant hire business, for which he was driving diggers and machinery within the business premises.

Mr Murphy said: ‘He has dyslexia and has failed the theory test several times. The driving on the day was disgraceful and extremely dangerous. He is pleading guilty and has his whole life ahead of him, he’s hoping to go to Australia in the coming weeks.’

Judge Joanne Carroll described the driving as ‘unacceptable, somebody could have been coming out of their car. It could have been a serious accident. There has to be a very serious penalty.’ For the charge of dangerous driving, Judge Carroll disqualified the accused from driving for two years, also imposing a fine of €500 and 50 hours of voluntary work. For the second dangerous driving charge in relation to going down a one-way street and not stopping for gardaí, Mr O’Donovan received a further 50 hours of voluntary work and a further two-year concurrent driving ban. Judge Carroll struck out the charge of unauthorised taking of a vehicle.    

Judge Carroll adjourned the case for finalisation on December 12th to ensure the fines had been paid and that the voluntary work had been carried out.

Funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme.