Man jailed for driving stolen taxi in high speed chase with gardaí across two counties
Gardaí put 'their lives and limbs at risk' during the 'dangerous' car chase
A man has been sentenced to three years and nine months in prison for driving a stolen taxi and being chased by gardai on a pursuit that spanned two counties.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Matthew Grogan (26) of Applewood Village, Swords, Dublin, pleaded guilty to possession of stolen property, trespassing, criminal damage, driving without insurance, and two counts of dangerous driving at various locations in Co Louth and Co Dublin between September 22 and 23, 2021.
He has 64 previous convictions, which include convictions for burglary, attempted burglary, unauthorised taking, theft, criminal damage, hijacking, assault, misuse of drugs, public order and road traffic matters.
Passing sentence, Judge Orla Crowe said this accused drove in the most dangerous fashion and that gardaí from Ardee, Dundalk, Swords and members of the Armed Support Unit were all involved in this pursuit.
Judge Crowe said the court had to consider “the number of gardai who put their lives and limbs at risk during this pursuit”.
Judge Crowe said the taxi had significant damages caused to it and that this was the injured party's “work car, his business and his means of earning a living”.
Judge Crowe sentenced Grogan to a global sentence of three years and nine months in prison, which she backdated to when he went into custody on this matter. She also disqualified him from driving for two years.
Garda Colm Randle told John Moher, BL, prosecuting, that a taxi driver returned to his home at 4.30 pm on September 22, 2021. He parked his car in his driveway, and at 10pm that night, he noticed that his taxi had been stolen.
He reported this to the gardai and at 1.40 am gardai in Ardee saw the car being driven by Grogan. The gardai activated their blue lights but the car failed to stop.
During the pursuit, Cosgrove drove the car through red lights at speeds of up to 170km per hour. Grogan drove through a toll plaza without stopping and an unmarked garda car was narrowly missed by Grogan. He also drove through a junction at 120km per hour.
The court heard that gardai from the Armed Support Unit, as well as gardai from Louth and Dublin, were involved in the pursuit. When the car finally came to a stop in the Swords area, Grogan was arrested by armed gardai.
He was unable to be interviewed for several hours due to being under the influence of intoxicants and was described as being “unable to keep his eyes open”.
During his interview, Grogan told gardai that the last day was a “blur” and that the “yokes” he received were bad. Grogan is currently serving a prison sentence and will be released in June 2026.
Counsel said Grogan is still relatively young and has spent a large portion of his life in and out of custody.
He said Grogan has two children, and he will miss the first three years of one of his children's lives due to his current prison sentence, and this has been a wake-up call to him.