Garda injured in high speed Cork pursuit

A garda was injured in Cork this morning after 20 officers were involved in a high speed pursuit of a stolen van that drove along the wrong side of a dual carriageway.

The motorcycle garda suffered serious but non life-threatening injuries when he was struck by the van during the garda operation on the Mallow Road between Blarney and Killeens at around 9am.

The drama began on the northside of the city when gardaí spotted a van that had been stolen from MacCurtain Street in the city yesterday afternoon and was used in a burglary in Glanmire.

Gardaí signalled to the driver of the van to stop but he failed to do so and took off in the direction of the Commons Road and the Old Mallow Road heading away from the city towards Rathduff.

He turned back on to the new Mallow Road and travelled along the N20 on the wrong side of the dual carriageway section from Blarney to Killeens where he was then boxed in by gardaí.

The van struck the motorcycle garda who was directing traffic away from the dualcarriageway, resulting in serious neck injuries to the officer who is a member of the Traffic Corps

Both the driver and a passenger exited the van at Killeens and gardaí arrested the passenger at the scene. The driver took to the fields and gardai captured him a short distance from the scene.

Meanwhile the motorcycle garda who is in his 30s was brought to Cork University Hospital where he was being assessed for serious but non-life threatening injuries including a neck injury.

The arrested men – aged 28 and 27 and from the northside of Cork – were taken to Gurranebraher Garda Station where they are being questioned about the incident.

The men are being held under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act which allows garda detain suspects for up to 24 hours before they are charged or released.