A man described as having a ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ character after he drank alcohol has been jailed for eight months and put off the road for five years after going on a rampage in Co Donegal.
Owen Orr committed a series of offences on St Valentine’s Day in 2019, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake.
The father-of-five punched a fellow motorist in the face, assaulted a Garda, damaged his motorbike and crashed his car into a mother and daughter.
Orr, who has 31 previous convictions, appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court where he pleaded guilty to a range of offences which all occurred on the same evening.
Judge Roderick Maguire said it was completely unacceptable that Gardai had been put in such danger while doing their duty.
He also said members of the public were fortunate not to have suffered more serious and lasting injuries as a result of Orr’s actions.
The 32-year-old was charged that, at Cullion Road, Letterkenny, he assaulted Garda Michael Kilcoyne, a peace officer, acting in the course of his duty. The charge is contrary to Section 19 (3) of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act, 1994, as amended by Section 185 of the Criminal Justice Act, 2006.
He was charged that he did without lawful excuse damage property, to wit, a Garda Honda motorcycle, belonging to the Chief Superintendent, An Garda Siochana. The charge is contrary to Section 2 (1) of the Criminal Damage Act, 1991.
Orr was charged with the unlawful interference with a mechanically propelled vehicle, the property of Charles Bonner, while such vehicle was stationary at Manorcunningham by removing the key from the ignition. The charge is contrary to Section 113 or the Road Traffic Act, 1961, as amended by Section 6 of the Road Traffic Act, 1968 and Section 18 of the Road Traffic Act, 2006.
He is also charged with dangerous driving on the N13 on February 14th, 2019.
He is further charged that, at Dromore, Letterkenny, on February 14, 2019, that he did without lawful excuse damage property, to wit, a Toyota Corolla belonging to Kathleen Birch, intending to damage such property or being reckless as to whether such property would be damaged. The charge is contrary to Section 2 (1) of the Criminal Damage Act, 1991.
He is also charged with failing to report an accident when injury was caused to property or a person at Dromore Lower on February 14th, 2019, being the driver of a vehicle involved in the accident.
Other charges were also taken into account by the court.
Prosecutor for the State, Ms Fiona Crawford, BL, along with Garda Daire Sheridan, outlined the series of events on the day which led to Orr’s arrest.
He told how another motorist, Charles Bonner, was driving on the dual carriageway into Letterkenny when he saw another car overtaking a series of other vehicles before pulling in front of him.
Mr Bonner flashed his lights at the car, but the other driver, now known to be Owen Orr, slammed on his brakes, forcing the other driver to brake.
Mr Bonner stopped and the driver of the other car came over, punched him in the nose, pulled the keys out of his jeep and then threw them into a hedge before driving off, with the entire incident being captured on dashcam.
At Dromore Lower, some kilometres down the road, Mrs Kathleen Birch and her daughter were traveling towards Letterkenny down Lurgybrack when a car pulled out and smashed into them.
Mrs Birch suffered pain in her back and legs and feared her car was going to go on fire as other motorists came to her aid.
The driver of the other car fled on foot but left his wallet with bank cards and identification at the scene.
Garda motorcyclist Michael Kilcoyne arrived at the scene of the accident and went in search of the driver of the other car, finding Owen Orr walking at nearby Cullion Road.
He addressed Orr, who became aggressive and assaulted the Garda by grabbing him by the neck, causing his motorbike to fall to the ground.
A scuffle broke out and Orr lashed out at the arresting officer by kicking him before he was taken to Letterkenny Garda Station for questioning.
While in the station, Orr refused to give either a blood or urine sample to a registered nurse.
The accused man was interviewed four days later when sober, and the court was told he was very apologetic about the incident.
Barrister for Orr, Mr Ciaran Elders, BL, directed by solicitor Frank Dorrian, said his client was very cooperative during the second interview, describing him as a ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ character when he had alcohol taken.
He added that he finds himself in a better place today and has been sober since 2023 after two periods in rehabilitation, apart from a small lapse.
The accused man had a total of €2,000 in compensation to offer, including a sum to replace the €500 key for Mr Bonner’s jeep, another €750 for the damage to his glasses, and €750 to be given to a charity of Garda Kilcoyne’s choice.
A further €500 was also available to Mrs Birch, while the court was also told that civil proceedings are also ongoing arising from the collision.
Mr Elders added that his client was now trying to put his life back together and was a man with a high IQ with five children, the oldest of which were also academically gifted and wanted to attend college.
Judge Roderick Maguire addressed the accused and asked him how his family were now keeping and how his life was now that he is trying to remain sober.
Orr said that he was attending AA meetings four times a week.
Mr Elders added that now that it appears that Orr has been rehabilitated and has also come a long way since this incident in 2019, he was not sure how a custodial sentence could benefit Orr or society at large.
Passing sentence, Judge Maguire outlined all the events of the night, saying he had considered all matters.
He outlined a headline sentence but then said he had to consider mitigation before passing a final sentence.
He said Gardai had noted that Orr was very easy to deal with when sober, he had not come to Garda attention since, had entered an early plea, and was in a much better place today.
The Judge also noted his probation report, the fact that he has five children, and also considered the management of his alcohol abuse and that he is now attending alcoholics anonymous four times a week.
He also noted that compensation had been offered to those caught up in Orr’s rampage, which he said were concrete expressions of remorse of the accused.
Taking all these matters into account, Judge Maguire reduced the headline sentence to one of sixteen months with the last eight months suspended and banned Orr from holding a driving license for five years.
He also ordered him to enter a bond to keep the peace for a period of two years upon his release from prison.
Man who went on road rampage after boozing is jailed for eight months was last modified: July 29th, 2025 by
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