Man's dangerous driving conviction overturned after court views Snapchat video
An appeals court has overturned a young man's dangerous driving conviction after viewing a social media video he argued proved he was in the passenger seat when the vehicle was pursued by gardaí.
Myles Smith (22) had his conviction quashed at the District Court Appeals Court this week, despite the State submitting that other video footage presented as evidence had been edited.
Mr Smith, with an address at Mount Symon Lawn, Clonsilla, Dublin 15, had pleaded not guilty in the District Court to dangerous driving contrary to section 53.1 of the Road Traffic Act, 1961, and had also denied counts of driving with no insurance, driving without a licence, two counts of failure to produce documents, and failure to produce information contrary to section 107 4b of the same Act.
Gda Andrew Burlingham told the appeals court he was on patrol in the Blanchardstown area on April 12th, 2021, at about 9pm when he observed a car changing lanes without indicating and crossing over another vehicle. He said he saw the car fail to indicate and turn back into Blanchardstown Shopping Centre.
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His garda colleague activated his lights and sirens to indicate for the car to stop. Gda Burlingham said the vehicle failed to stop, and he observed it driving at high speed, forcing other road users to take evasive action. In the pursuit, he saw the car driving extremely fast over speed bumps, ignoring a red light and driving the wrong way around a roundabout.
He said he pursued the car as it approached Aldemere Drive in Clonsilla, where it mounted a green area in an estate and was abandoned by the occupants. Gda Burlingham said he saw Mr Smith exit from the driver's side of the car. The garda said he pursued him to a wooded area and arrested him.
Mr Smith received fines totalling €1,150, a two-year driving disqualification for the dangerous driving count and a two-year disqualification for driving without insurance.
Defence counsel for Mr Smith, Aoife McNickle, submitted that her client was not driving the car during the incident but was in the passenger side. She presented a Snapchat video taken by Mr Smith during the pursuit, which she said proved he was in the passenger seat.
The footage, which was played to the court, showed Mr Smith sitting in the car while flashing Garda lights could be seen through the rear window and wing mirrors. She showed a second video, taken by Mr Smith after the event, that she submitted proved he was in the passenger seat, not the driver seat.
The Director of Public Prosecutions' barrister, Clare Barry, said she believed the second video had been edited. She said 'even the most digitally illiterate people can do that'.
Mr Smith denied this, and claimed Gda Burlingham was not the garda who arrested him.
Ms Barry said it was the State's case that Mr Smith was driving the car during the chase and that the second video was not authentic.
Judge Jonathan Dunphy said that after 'numerous viewings' of the video evidence, he had doubts over who was driving the car.
He said that although Mr Smith's behaviour as a passenger of the car was 'a disgrace', he must give him the benefit of the doubt. He found there was no satisfactory evidence that he was the owner or driver of the car.
He allowed the conviction appeal on these grounds.
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