M50 chase accused told to surrender passport after holiday in Spain

A WOMAN who livestreamed videos as she allegedly led up to 20 Garda cars on a chase on the M50 has been ordered to surrender her passport.

A judge said she was imposing bail conditions after hearing Gemma Greene (24) had left the country to go to Spain on holiday since she was arrested over the Garda pursuit.

At Dublin District Court, Judge Treasa Kelly said Ms Greene will now also have to be under curfew at night and stay sober.

In an interjection from the dock, Ms Greene claimed to have been “pinched” during her arrest by gardaí and they were “taking this very personal”.

Judge Kelly remanded her on continuing bail for four weeks.

Ms Greene, from Bunratty Road, Coolock, Dublin, is charged with two counts of dangerous driving, on the M50 at Junctions 4 and 9 northbound last March 1. She has not yet entered a plea.

Gardaí chased a car on the M50 until it stopped at the Hampton Wood Drive area of Ballymun. Footage was livestreamed on social media with a driver recorded singing to music.

After the incident, Ms Greene was arrested, charged and granted Garda station bail before appearing in court last week.

At that hearing, Judge Kelly was told Ms Greene had broken quarantine rules by attending court, as she had been out of the jurisdiction recently.

Today, she was back in court for a Garda application to tighten bail conditions.

Gda Jane Keegan said her reason for the application was she was aware of published newspaper interviews in which the accused stated that she “intends to leave the jurisdiction”.

Ms Greene had been out of the jurisdiction since she was granted bail and it was the garda's understanding that she had been to Spain.

Objecting to bail conditions, defence solicitor John Quinn said the court was to be concerned with whether an accused person answered bail. His client had answered bail twice and conditions were not required, he argued.

Leaving the jurisdiction was a separate matter and there were other procedures, such as the health regulations, to deal with that.

The judge said she had the power to impose conditions and did not see any difficulty with doing so.

She was doing this on the basis that the circumstances had changed “considerably” when the accused left the jurisdiction after being granted bail.

Conditions are that Ms Greene continues to reside at her home address, observes a curfew between 11pm and 6am, remains sober, surrenders her passport by 9pm tonight, does not apply for other travel documents, and signs on daily at Coolock Garda Station between 9am and 9pm.

“Why do I have to stay out of Ballymun?” Ms Greene asked from the dock. “You are taking this very personal now, yous are. Why don’t you tell them you were pinching the back off me when you were arresting me?”

The judge asked the accused to address the court through her solicitor.

“Why was she pinching the back off me when she was arresting me?" Ms Greene continued. "She is taking it personal. She was abusing me when she was arresting me.”

Gda Keegan said a file was being prepared for the DPP and directions were outstanding.

The charges related to an incident involving up to 20 Garda patrol cars and the Garda air support unit, she said.

There was a “large amount of statements involved".

Judge Kelly remanded the accused on continuing bail to April 26, saying she was requiring Ms Greene's presence in court on that date.

Over recent weeks, Ms Greene has gained thousands of Instagram followers and has set up a pay-per-view OnlyFans account to boost her online profile. She has also built up her social media presence with photos from her recent one-week holiday to Spain.

When she appeared in court last week, gardaí said Ms Greene was at that time still four days off completing quarantine after her holiday.

Online Editors