Man who allegedly rammed Garda car refused bail to attend sister’s wedding

A man charged with endangerment after he allegedly rammed a Garda Armed Support Unit at a checkpoint in Cork has failed in his bid to be released on bail to attend his sister’s wedding next week.

Andrew Cash (28) from Harper's Lane, Portaoise, Co Laois applied at Cork Circuit Criminal Court to be released on bail to allow him attend the wedding of his sister who is getting married in Dublin on Monday.

Mr Cash is charged with three counts of endangerment, including one that he collided with a garda patrol car containing two gardaí at Carhoo, Old Mallow Road, Cork on May 11th, 2018.

He is also charged with two counts of criminal damage, as well 16 road traffic offences, including dangerous driving, driving without insurance and driving without a driving licence at various locations in Cork on the same date.

Mr Cash's barrister, Paula McCarthy BL, told Judge Helen Boyle that her client wanted to attend his sister's wedding and was willing to abide by whatever conditions gardaí were seeking in order to get bail to attend the nuptials.

She said that he was willing to sign on at his local Garda station as frequently as gardaí required, while he would abide by any curfew that gardaí would seek, as well as surrender his passport and refrain from taking any intoxicants.

But Det Sgt Niall O’Connell of Anglesea Street Garda Station said that gardaí were opposed to Mr Cash getting bail because of the seriousness of the charges against him and their belief that he posed a flight risk if granted bail.

He said that state was grounding its objection in the strength of the prosecution case against Mr Cash, stating that the state had strong evidence linking him to the various offences with which he was charged.

He said the State would allege that, at 3.30pm on May 11th, 2018, Mr Cash encountered a Garda checkpoint on the Old Mallow Road in Cork but seeing the checkpoint, reversed his car, striking a parked car belonging to a civilian.

He said the State would allege that Mr Cash then rammed a garda patrol car belonging to the Garda Armed Support Unit, causing some €20,000 worth of damage before taking off at high speed in the direction of Carrignavar.

He said the State would allege that while driving dangerously through Carrignavar at speed and when overtaking on the wrong side of the road, he struck a 16-year-old pedestrian on the arm and failed to stop.

He said two gardaí identified Mr Cash as the driver of the car and gardaí obtained CCTV footage from Kilmeaden in Co Waterford from earlier that day where Mr Cash was wearing the same jumper he was seen wearing in the car.

Judge Boyle said she accepted Mr Cash had strong family ties with Portlaoise where his wife and two children lived but she said the charges against him were serious ones and there appeared to be strong evidence against him.

She said that she accepted the Garda contention that Mr Cash was a flight risk given the seriousness of the charges against him and she refused him bail, remanding him in custody to appear in court again on June 16th.