GARDAÍ IN Athlone arrested a man who escaped from a Roscommon court before crashing through a railway barrier and driving against the flow of traffic on the main Galway to Dublin dual carriageway yesterday.
Athlone-based Garda Supt Aidan Glacken said it was “extremely fortunate that no one was injured” during the incident.
“People had to get out of his way and we had a lot of calls from motorists who were very frightened,” he said.
The 21-year-old is understood to have fled the court having been sentenced for an offence at a sitting before lunchtime.
A member of the Garda was upended after she tried to stop him and was carried on the bonnet of the car for some distance.
She is understood not to have been seriously injured.
Gardaí pursued the man, who got into a car and drove towards Athlone, Co Westmeath. During the 30-minute pursuit, the man drove through a funeral cortege in Roscommon town at speed and then crashed the car through a railway barrier at Knockroghery on the N61 from Roscommon to Athlone. On reaching Athlone, he turned onto the motorway on the Roscommon exit, driving against the flow of traffic before doing a U-turn back towards the town, Garda Supt Glacken said.
With gardaí still in pursuit, the man then “found himself back on the carriageway” near Baylough in Athlone. However, the road was closed due to roadworks and the man crashed the car before fleeing on foot. The man was later arrested and returned to the custody of gardaí in Roscommon. A file is being prepared for the DPP in relation to the matter.