A MAN accused of the manslaughter of a garda has claimed he was drunk and does not remember much about the incident.
Garda Robbie McCallion died after he was struck by a car in Letterkenny, Co Donegal, on March 26th, 2009.
Jamie McGrenaghan admitted driving the car that knocked down Garda McCallion, who died in hospital almost two weeks later as a result of head injuries.
Letterkenny Circuit Court yesterday heard how McGrenaghan told gardaí just hours after the incident that he was sorry for what had happened. “I’m very sorry. I might not have had my wits about me because of the drink,” he said after being arrested.
McGrenaghan, then just 17, had been drinking all evening with another man, Cathal Dunleavy.
The pair had visited at least three pubs and then went back to Dunleavy’s house at Glenvar, Kerrykeel, where they began drinking vodka.
They then travelled to Letterkenny where they met a girl who lived at nearby Tara Court and was selling a car. They went to the housing estate and saw the car, a silver Opel Astra, but Dunleavy spotted a white Toyota Corolla car which took his fancy.
The pair returned at approximately 4am in McGrenaghan’s red Peugeot car after drinking more vodka and stole the car.
While trying to make their getaway, they were confronted by a patrol car containing Garda Shane Lavelle, Garda Joanne Doherty and Garda McCallion.
The accused, of Gortnatra, Kerrykeel, told gardaí he panicked when he saw gardaí and reversed the car back 20 yards before spotting a gap between where gardaí had parked their patrol car and a wall.
Initially, McGrenaghan told gardaí he had blanked out when he hit the patrol car after banging his head off the steering wheel and did not know that he hit anyone. However, during a later interview on the day of the crash at Letterkenny Garda station, he admitted he did see a garda and said he saw him bouncing off the windscreen.
Forensic evidence was given of fibres from a blue Manchester United T-shirt, which Garda McCallion was wearing beneath his shirt, found on the windscreen of McGrenaghan’s car.
A statement from State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy said Garda McCallion (29) had died as a result of a serious head injury due to vehicular impact.
Defence counsel Denis Vaughan Buckley said his client had been led by the older man, Dunleavy (then 19), who had 32 previous convictions whereas his client had no criminal record.
McGrenaghan has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter but has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing Garda McCallion’s death and to stealing a car. The case is expected to finish today.