Man has conviction overturned despite State claiming Snapchat video evidence used to clear him was 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.
Garda Andrew Burlingham told the appeals court that he was on patrol in the Blanchardstown area on April 12, 2021, at around 9pm when he observed a car drive from the left lane to the right lane without indicating and crossing over another vehicle.
He said that he saw the car fail to indicate and turn back into Blanchardstown Shopping Centre, where his garda colleague activated his lights and sirens to indicate for the car to stop.
Garda Burlingham said that the vehicle failed to stop and that he observed it driving at high speed, forcing other road users to take evasive action.
He said that in the following pursuit, he saw the car driving extremely fast over speed bumps, ignore a red light and drive the wrong way around a roundabout.
He said he pursued the car as it approached Aldemere Drive in Clonsilla, where he said it mounted a green area in an estate and was abandoned by the occupants.
Garda Burlingham said that he saw Mr Smith exit from the driver's side of the car, that he pursued him to where he was hiding in a wooded area and arrested him.
On the count of dangerous driving, Mr Smith was disqualified from driving for two years and given a fine of €450 in the District Court. He also got a two-year driving ban and a €400 fine for his charge of driving with no insurance and a fine of €300 euro for his charge of driving without a licence.
Defence counsel for Mr Smith, Aoife McNickle BL, submitted that her client was not driving the car during the incident.
Counsel said that he was sitting in the passenger side of the vehicle at the time, and 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 lights from the gardaí could be seen through the rear window and wing mirrors.
She also presented a second video, taken by Mr Smith after the event, in order to prove his position in the car was in fact the passenger seat, not the driver seat.
Counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions, Clare Barry, put it to Mr Smith that she believed the second video had been edited between the moments when the camera flipped between front facing and back facing angles. She said that 'even the most digitally illiterate people can do that'.
Mr Smith denied that the footage was edited and maintained that he was in the passenger seat and not driving the car.
Mr Smith also claimed that Garda Burlingham was not the garda member who arrested him at the scene.
Ms Barry said it was the State's case that Mr Smith was driving the car during the chase and that the second video, which he said proved he was in the passenger seat, was not authentic. Mr Smith denied this claim in court.
Judge Jonathan Dunphy said that after 'numerous viewings' of the video evidence, he had doubt 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 and found there is no satisfactory evidence that he was the owner or driver of the car.
He decided to allow the appeal of Mr Smith's conviction on these grounds.
Funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
30 minutes ago
- Irish Times
‘He wanted to have sex': Fitness to teach inquiry hears allegations teacher drove student to driveway of old factory
A fitness-to-teach inquiry has heard testimony from a former Leaving Certificate student of how a teacher picked her up from her estate after school and brought her to the driveway of an old factory. 'He wanted to have sex, I wasn't sure. I remember trying to get over to the driver's side, I remember the clunkiness of it,' the witness told the inquiry on Wednesday. She has complained to the Teaching Council that while she was an 18-year-old student, a teacher at her school had sexual encounters with her on four to six occasions between March and June 2018. The complainant also alleges that she and the teacher sent communications to each other on Snapchat, the social media app, many of which were of a sexually explicit nature, including photos of a penis and nude photos of the complainant. READ MORE The teacher, who was not present, submitted that the complainant's case was a weak one which lacked detail. He submitted the case contained inconsistencies regarding dates, that the complainant had narrowed the date range on which the sexual encounters occurred on to between March and April 2018, and he noted the complainant said the sexual relationship was consensual. The teacher, who has been registered since 2016 taught in the school for five years. He is now working at another school and submitted that he has 'an exemplary record of service in both schools'. The complainant alleged that after speaking with her best friend and classmate, she found out the teacher was also sending inappropriate messages to her, messages which he had also sent to the complainant. The complainant further related how at the time of the allegations she was not in a positive mental state. She said she was drinking alcohol, had issues with food and that two years previously was hospitalised and that the teacher was aware of her mental health issues. She outlined a pattern of deleting the teacher from Snapchat and adding him again if she was struggling and as a means of coping. She felt he had a duty of care to her as a student and that he took advantage of her poor judgment. She said he encouraged her drinking and he sometimes provided her with cigarettes when he would pick her up in his car close to her home. She said while she did okay in her Leaving Certificate, her experiences that year with the teacher had an effect on her. She told how days before the exams she forwarded a letter to her best friend which outlined some details of the behaviour between herself and the teacher, but not the sexual nature of it as the teacher had convinced her not to. Neasa Bird, BL for the director of the Teaching Council, said that it is her client's contention that there is a prima-facie case of professional misconduct and a breach of the Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers. The complainant, with the assistance of a trusted friend, previously submitted videos to the Teaching Council of her scrolling down through some of the Snapchat communications she had saved. The complainant also said the teacher's behaviour was manipulatory, that he had groomed her before having a sexual relationship with her. She related how the teacher provided her with a study plan when she was struggling with her mental health even though he was not one of her teachers. However, she felt this intervention was a tactic on his part to reassert him as a responsible adult, another method of gaining her trust. She related how she first came into contact with him when she obtained two lessons of additional tuition from him in August 2017, when she was 17. She said he added her, accidentally he said, on Snapchat that October. The complainant had turned 18 the previous month. She said a message from the teacher to her on Facebook, even though they were not Facebook friends, in December 2022 offering his congratulations to her on graduating from university spurred her to make her complaint to the Teaching Council. It was decided at a preliminary hearing that there would be no disclosure of the name of the school or of any information which would reveal the identity of any witnesses. The panel also ruled today that this order of anonymity would not extend to the name of the teacher. The inquiry will reconvene on Tuesday, July 15th.
Sunday World
40 minutes ago
- Sunday World
Teacher had sex with Leaving Cert student in her mother's bed, tribunal told
She told a fitness-to-teach inquiry that at one point he said it would be 'hot' if she wore her school uniform during sex A schoolteacher had sex with a Leaving Cert student in her mother's bed and his car after sharing explicit photos with her on Snapchat, it is alleged. The then 18-year-old said she was 'naive and vulnerable' when her class head teacher started an inappropriate relationship with her in the months before she sat her exams. She told a fitness-to-teach inquiry that at one point he said it would be 'hot' if she wore her school uniform during sex. It is further alleged that on their sixth year graduation night, he kissed the complainant's best friend, who described the teacher's behaviour as 'predatory.' The man is accused of professional misconduct and breaching the Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers, which he denies. The inquiry is being held by the Teaching Council following a complaint by a student known as Ms A, now in her 20s. It is alleged the teacher inappropriately communicated with her on Snapchat between October 2017 and June 2018, and sent her messages, photos, pictures and memes of an inappropriate and sexual nature between January and June, 2018. He is alleged to have provided her with alcohol and had an inappropriate sexual relationship with her between March and June that year. Further allegations relate to her friend, Ms B, who he allegedly touched and kissed in a pub in May 2018. Stock image: Getty News in 90 Seconds - July 10th Ms A said the teacher had given her maths grinds in 2017 but 'nothing untoward' happened. He added her on Snapchat late that year and as they exchanged messages, it was not her intention for anything romantic to happen, but she continued out of curiosity. The teacher was aged 28 at the time and had two children. 'I knew it was weird to speak to a teacher over Snapchat and I shouldn't be doing it,' Ms A said. He complimented her and joked about 'going off with a student.' The frequency and intimacy of the messages slowly increased and he started making sexual advances towards her, the inquiry heard. He 'tested the waters of what he could say to me' and as she became more responsive, it 'escalated' and they exchanged explicit photos. 'He would send me d**k pics of his genitals and I would send him nude pictures in return,' she said. He would 'encourage my alcohol use, knowing it would lower my inhibitions', saying 'you will be horny', she alleged. She said he told her she was better looking than her friends and asked about her boyfriend, saying to her: 'What are you doing with him?' She 'knew it was wrong' and felt that she cared more about the repercussions than she did, she said. She had mental health issues and was coping in ways that were 'wrong and unhealthy.' They first met after school in March 2018 when he dropped her home in his car, she continued. The next day, she alleged they went to her house while she was drunk and her mother was out. 'I kind of knew this was where it was going, it felt inevitable,' she said. 'I still had a bunk bed so we went into my mother's bed and had sex.' She alleged he later said of her boyfriend: 'Just tell him that you f**ked a teacher in your mam's bed.' When they allegedly had sex in his car, she 'felt reluctant and awkward' and she did not like 'the clunkiness of it.' She said it was 'too real' for her and she recalled being able to see his child's car seat, where he left a bottle of vodka he bought her. She said he told her they had not had sex while she was in her school uniform, saying 'that would be hot'. They also had sex in his apartment, she said. Some of the messages alleged to have been between the teacher and Ms A were retrieved, barrister Neasa Bird, for the director of the Teaching Council, said. In one message the man allegedly told Ms A his mother was asking if he was seeing an 'old one' and he told her 'no, she's the complete opposite, ha ha, a young one'. According to the message, his mother replied: 'Please say she's f**king legal.' Ms A said she believed he thought this was 'hilarious.' 'To be fair, your mother's allowed to drink your wine since we rode in her bed and her couch hahahahaha,' he allegedly said in another message. Ms A told the inquiry he responded to a nude photo she sent: 'hahaha love it.' Other messages read 'Should f**k soon', 'car sex later'.' Ms B said on graduation night in May 2018, she was walking upstairs when the teacher 'slapped my bum two to three times.' As they sat talking alone, she said, he played with the bow on her dress, saying he would like to undo it. Later, they were alone again in a dark corner when he kissed her and she did not pull away. She left and was surprised he had done this on her graduation night, but 'he had always given off a creepy vibe.' She said he added her on Snapchat and sent her a message: 'you should have come back to mine.' He continued to contact her with a 'flirty undertone,' she said. He allegedly sent a screenshot of an Instagram follow request from another student with the comment 'she wants it.' He also sent her a 'd**k pic' of his genitals, she said. Ms B said she blocked him because he 'had given me the creeps' but when he asked why, added him again because she felt she had to. Ms A said when she realised he was sending them both the same messages, she sent Ms B a 'sugarcoated' letter telling her about the relationship without disclosing its sexual nature. Ms Bird, for the director of the council, said the teacher had made submissions maintaining the complaint against him 'lacks detail'. He was not required to be present at the inquiry, and Ms Bird read from the submissions. In them, he stated allegations from Ms A including that he kissed her best friend on graduation night were not corroborated. He noted that the letter Ms A sent to Ms B stated 'nothing sexual occurred'. He said there were 'significant doubts' as to the credibility of her account, her case was a 'weak one' and there was 'no public interest' in referring it to inquiry. There was 'nothing to suggest he had anything other than an exemplary record of teaching,' he submitted. The inquiry continues next week.
Sunday World
40 minutes ago
- Sunday World
Man admits killing bride-to-be in crash hours after she went wedding dress shopping
Laura Connolly had been shopping for a wedding dress with friends A man has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of a young woman in Lifford in 2021 - hours after she had been 'window shopping' for wedding dresses. Sean Connaughton appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court where he pleaded guilty to a single charge arising out of a hit-and-run incident at Townparks, Lifford on July 11, 2021. Ms Laura Connolly, a 34-year-old pedestrian, was taken from the scene to University Hospital Letterkenny where she was later pronounced dead. Ms Connolly had been earlier shopping for a wedding dress with friends as she had been due to marry her partner Joe McCullagh in 2022. Gardai on the scene Father-of-two Connaughton, a native of Donegal but with an address in Co Louth, spoke only to plead guilty when he appeared in court. The charge is contrary to section 53 (1) of the Road Traffic Act. A number of members of the late Ms Connolly's family were present in court for the brief hearing at Letterkenny courthouse. Barrister for Connaughton, Mr Peter Nolan, led by Mr Colm Smyth SC, and instructed by solicitor Mr Frank Dorrian, said other matters will be dealt with in due course. He said his client has now been on bail for four years and has complied with all bail conditions to date. He told Judge Roderick Maguire that apart from one road traffic matter some time ago, his client had no previous convictions. Sean Connaughton Mr Nolan said he was anxious that a probation and welfare report be obtained for his client. He said he appreciated all that Ms Connolly's family had been through but added that his client had also been suffering from great stress and anxiety since the incident. Mr Nolan asked for a psychiatric report and also to a GP's report to allow for medication for various other matters. Ms Fiona Crawford BL, barrister for the State, said there was no objection to Connaughton being granted bail. Laura Connolly Judge Maguire said he would adjourn the case until the October sessions of the circuit court for sentencing but warned that due to great pressure on the Probation Services, a report may not be ready by then. If that is the case, he informed the Connolly family that sentencing may regrettably have to be adjourned until February, 2026. Judge Maguire also offered his sympathies to members of the Connolly family in court.
