CASE ADJOURNED | 

Garda accused of dangerous driving after fatal N7 crash appears in court again

John Francis Ryan is facing charges over a fatal accident on Dublin’s N7 two years ago when three members of a burglary gang died.

Today at 14:35

THE case against a garda accused of dangerous driving following a crash that claimed the lives of three men has been adjourned for disclosure of prosecution evidence.

John Francis Ryan is facing charges over a fatal accident on Dublin’s N7 two years ago when three members of a burglary gang died.

Gda Ryan, who was stationed in Tallaght, is accused of three counts of dangerous driving and one of endangerment in the incident on July 7, 2021.

He first appeared in Dublin District Court on foot of a summons last June and when the case came back before the court today, Judge Michael Ramsey was told prosecution disclosure to the defence was outstanding.

This had previously been ordered, to include any CCTV footage.

Judge Ramsey adjourned the case to a date in December for the material to be disclosed.

Non-publication of the garda’s home address was also ordered.

The accused, represented by barrister David Staunton, was not required to address the court during the brief hearing.

The directions of the DPP on a future court venue have not been issued yet and the accused has not yet entered a plea.

The prosecution is being brought by the Director of Public Prosecutions on behalf of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC).

The three men– Dean Maguire (29), Karl Freeman (26) and Graham Taylor (31) – were killed instantly when their BMW vehicle burst into flames following a head-on crash with a truck between Citywest and Baldonnel on July 7, 2021, while they were driving on the wrong side of the road.

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The three were members of a Tallaght-based gang that specialised in burglaries and were fleeing gardai at the time.

In May, an inquest into the deaths was adjourned when Dublin District Coroner’s Court heard a criminal prosecution had been initiated.

The coroner, Clare Keane, was informed that the DPP had taken the decision to bring the prosecution based on a file submitted by GSOC, which investigated the circumstances of the fatal crash.

GSOC applied for an adjournment of the inquest into the deaths of the three men