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 which knocked down Garda McCallion, who later died in hospital almost two weeks later as a result of head injuries.
Letterkenny Circuit Court today heard how Mr McGrenaghan told gardaí just hours after the incident that he was sorry for what had happened.
“I’m sorry for what happened to the officer. I hope he recovers quickly. I’m very sorry. I might not have had my wits about me because of the drink,” he said after being arrested.
Mr McGrenaghan, then just 17, had been drinking all even with another man Cathal Dunleavy.
The pair had visited at least three pubs and then went back to Mr Dunleavy’s house at Glenvar, Kerrykeel, where they began drinking vodka.
They then travelled to Letterkenny where they met a girl at a local garage who lived at nearby Tara Court who 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 about 4am in McGrenaghan’s red Peugeot car after drinking more vodka and stole the car, the court heard.
While trying to make their getaway, they were confronted by a Garda patrol car containing gardaí Shane Lavelle, Joanne Doherty and Robbie McCallion.
The accused of Gortnatra, Kerrykeel, told gardaí that he panicked when he saw the gardaí and reversed the car back 20 yards before spotting a gap between where the patrol car was parked and a wall.
Initially Mr McGrenaghan told gardaí he had blanked out when he hit the patrol car after banging his head off the steering wheel of his car 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 admits he saw him bouncing off the windscreen into the air.
Mr McGrenaghan admitted he tried to get away because he had crashed his car into a Garda patrol car and not because he knew he had struck a Garda.
Forensic evidence was also given that fibres from a blue Manchester United t-shirt which Garda McCallion was wearing beneath his Garda shirt was found on the windscreen of Mr McGrenaghan’s car after the smash.
A statement from State pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy revealed Garda McCallion, who was 29, had died at Dublin’s Beaumont Hospital as a result of a serious head injury due to vehicular impact.
There had been no evidence however that he had been struck by the bumper of a car or that there were any crush-type injuries to his chest or legs.
She also stated that Garda McCallion had contracted pneumonia and that this hastened his death on April 7th, 2009.
Defence counsel Denis Vaughan Buckley said his client had been led by the older man, Cathal Dunleavy, then 19, who had 32 previous convictions before the incident whereas his client had no criminal record.
Mr McGrenaghan has pleaded not guilty to a charge of manslaughter but has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing Garda McCallion’s death and also to stealing a car.
The case is expected to finish tomorrow.