A DRINK DRIVER who crashed his car into one being driven by a young north Clare woman and then left the scene of the late night crash on foot has been jailed for 16 months.

Today at Ennis Circuit Court, Judge Francis Comerford sentenced former secondary school teacher, Tony Greene (35) of Loughville, Lahinch Rd, Ennis to 30 months in prison.

He suspended the final 14 months on an endangerment charge arising from the road crash on the Liscannor Rd at Lahinch at around 3.45am on 25 October 2021.

Greene pleaded guilty to intentionally or recklessly engaging in conduct where he was driving at speed with no lights on his vehicle on the incorrect side of road which created a substantial risk of serious harm or death to another.

Circumstances

Comerford said that after consuming a large amount of alcohol, Greene got into his white Mercedes with three passengers after attending the Claremont nightclub in Lahinch.

He said that Greene was driving his Mercedes while impaired by the consumption of alcohol on the wrong side of the road towards Liscannor out of Lahinch when he drove into Aisling Rouine’s Kia Ceed car.

Rouine was aged 23 at the time of the crash.

Comerford said that after colliding into the front and right hand side of Rouine’s car, Greene’s car came to a stop 130 feet away when it crashed into a wall.

He said that it was an aggravating factor in the case and increased the endangerment when Greene and his passengers then left the scene of the crash.

Counsel for the State, Sarah Jane Comerford BL (Instructed by State Solicitor for Clare, Aisling Casey) said that the following morning Greene reported his car stolen to gardaí in a further attempt to evade justice. He made a full statement to gardaí on 31 October on his stolen car.

Comerford described Greene’s false report as “a complete lie” and imposed a concurrent 14 month prison sentence for the offence of making the false statement to gardaí.

Rouine was not drinking alcohol on the night and was driving back from Liscannor after dropping friends home when the crash occurred.

In her victim impact statement read out by garda Michael Haugh, Rouine said: “When I lay trapped and injured in my car and his car continued and crashed into a wall further down the road, Greene and his passengers did not come back near my car to check if I was alive or dead or to consider calling an ambulance.”

“Instead, they only thought selfishly of themselves and took to the fields running from the carnage they had just caused.”

“I could have been dead in the car for all of Greene and his friends knew or cared. These actions on the night along with total lack of acceptance or even a simple ‘sorry’ at any time leave me with little sympathy towards Greene.”

Rouine – now aged 27 and living in Australia – said that she knows that in the main her physical injuries will heal over time.

She said: “Psychologically, I will never forget the terror I felt as I can still see the Mercedes swerving side to side on the roadway, crossing over to my side of the road, speeding towards me and then for some reason to turn off the headlights fully.

“As I jammed on my brakes fully bringing my car to a stop, I honestly thought that I was going to die. As I braced for collision, this Mercedes drove straight into me, hitting the front part of my car.

“There was nothing I could do to avoid this collision.

She said: “After the collision, I was in shock but I was conscious, I was scared. I couldn’t get out of the car. I had pain all over my feet, my legs and body.”

She thanked three Limerick students who did come to free her from her car. She was later brought by ambulance to University Hospital Limerick and was discharged later that day.

Investigation

Garda Michael Haugh said that the investigation into the crash detected Greene’s DNA on the airbag that was deployed in the driver’s side of the Mercedes.

Haugh also said that CCTV was harvested of Greene entering the Claremont nightclub at 12.42am, exiting at 02.23am and driving his car away from Lahinch at 3.45am.

As part of his concocted story about his car being stolen, Greene claimed that his drink was spiked and woke up at a house near Lahinch with his car-keys missing from his pocket.

Haugh said that when arrested and interviewed on suspicion of endangerment and making a false statement, Greene exercised his right to silence.

Comerford said that he took into account Greene’s guilty plea, that he has no previous convictions and his offending is borne in large part out of his alcoholism which he is taking steps to address.

Counsel for Greene, Patrick Whyms BL (instructed by solicitor, Daragh Hassett) said that Greene made a number of bad decisions on the night.

Whyms read out a letter by Greene where he said that he is ‘truly sorry’ to Rouine for his actions. He said Greene has battled with alcohol over the years and now does not drink.

Whyms said that Greene has returned to Ireland from Australia for the case. He said that he moved from Ireland to Australia a few years ago with his girlfriend and the two are now engaged.

Whyms said that there has been a civil case and that case has been resolved and Rouine has been compensated.