A motorist drove at a Garda sergeant in a ‘mirror image’ of another incident in which a Garda died.
Owen Orr dropped a gear and then drove at Sgt Eunan Walsh, Letterkenny Circuit Court in Co Donegal heard yesterday.
Orr, 20, was given a three-year jail term which was suspended for three years if he kept out of trouble.
Sgt Walsh said he recognised Owen Orr during the terrifying incident at Foxhills, Letterkenny in 2010.
Orr, who was then 17, was charged with endangerment after Sgt Walsh had to jump into a garden to avoid being mowed down.
Judge John O’Hagan had delayed sentencing from last autumn to see if Orr, who had 19 previous convictions, could ‘behave himself.’
Garda Sgt John Durcan revealed how he heard the car “drop a gear” and speed towards them.
“If he hadn’t got out of the way he would have been seriously injured or killed,” said Sgt Durcan.
Judge O’Hagan said previously that he case was a “mirror image” of an incident in which another Garda was killed while on duty in Co Donegal.
Garda Robbie McCallion died when he was struck by a car during an attempted car robbery in Letterkenny in March 2009.
When asked at a previous hearing what he thought of the man who tried to run him over, Sgt Walsh said “He has had a troubled upbringing and I don’t think he knows much else.”
Judge O’Hagan had remarked at the last hearing: “This is a very similar incident occurred here in Co Donegal and a Garda lost his life. The car didn’t miss – it hit him. He (the driver) was convicted of dangerous driving causing death.
“Here we are in September 2010 and we have a young man practically carrying out a mirror image.”
Yesterday the judge said he had read probation reports and had been assured that Orr had not come to Garda attention since.
Suspending a three-year sentence for three years, the judge said: “He’s under the microscope now.”
When asked if he knew what that meant, Orr told Judge O’Hagan “Yes judge, I have to keep my nose clean.”