Defendant went on crime spree while living in car with dogs

A Monaghan man, who engaged in a crime spree between May and July of this year while living in a car with his dogs, was given consecutive prison terms amounting to 18 months when his case was dealt with at Monaghan District Court recently.

Jason Smithers (31), of no fixed abode, Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, and also Ard na Lurgan, Castleblayney, pleaded guilty to 33 charges in total, 19 of which were for dangerous driving in various locations. Other counts included causing criminal damage, possessing stolen property and road traffic matters.

Ten of those charges, including eight for dangerous driving, related to an earlier incident in the Castleblayney area on June 21, 2023.

Sergeant Lisa McEntee said many of the charges were similar, in that the defendant was failing to stop for gardaí and “just taking off” while seeking to evade them, often driving on the wrong side of the road. All the incidents that occurred this summer had involved the same 2009 Renault Megane car.

Defence solicitor Roisin Courtney said he had been living in that car, along with his dogs, for as long as she had known him.

The most recent set of charges arose from incidents at Bree, Castleblayney, on July 20 last that led to the defendant finally being apprehended and taken into custody. He was charged with causing damage to a patrol car; possessing items including a crowbar, wire cutters and a ski mask for use in theft or burglary; having a fraudulent registration number on the car, dangerous driving, and having no insurance and no driving licence on the occasion.

Sgt McEntee said the defendant had been chased on foot and arrested after damaging the Garda car. The items listed above were found in his vehicle.

Prior to that was a high-speed chase incident in the Monaghan Town area on July 12 that had resulted in two instances of dangerous driving in the Tullyhirm townland and one in Annahagh. Other charges against Smithers included allegations of dangerous driving at Toome, Castleblayney and Magherakill, Castleblayney on June 6, 2025, and of damaging a Garda van at Drumillard Little, Castleblayney on June 2. Regarding the latter incident, Sgt McEntee said the defendant had been on the wrong side of the road when he came into contact with the patrol vehicle, causing minor damage to a wheel arch.

Further charges relating to the June 2 exploits were that Smithers had no insurance nor licence at Drumillard Little, Castleblayney and had engaged in dangerous driving at Lakeview, Castleblayney and at the town’s Muckno Street.

On May 22 he accrued charges of dangerous driving at Mullaghanee, Castleblayney and at Drumganus Lower, Broomfield, Castleblayney; while on May 11 counts of dangerous driving and having no licence nor insurance arose following an episode at Corrygarry, Kingscourt, involving the same Renault car.

Twelve of the charges against Smithers dated back to June 21, 2023. These comprised of eight for dangerous driving in the townlands of Tonyglasson, Coolmannon, Doohamlet, Corryloan, Killycrum, Modeese, Muldrumman and Drumgristin; one for having no insurance at Drumgristin, another for refusing to give a blood sample at Castleblayney Garda Station, one for possessing articles to be used in connection with theft, and one for possessing stolen copper wiring.

The court was told Mr Smithers had 44 previous convictions, with Sergeant McEntee listing a few of the most recent.

At a sitting of Monaghan District Court in August, Smithers was sentenced to one month in jail for stealing about €200 worth of plastic bottles and cans (collected as part of a ‘Re-Turn’ fundraising drive for the Éire Óg GAA club) in Smithboro on June 6 last.

Took a ‘complete nosedive’

Having handed the judge a letter penned by her client, Ms Courtney said he had been referred to psychiatric treatment while in prison but hadn’t received any yet. She said he was from a very troubled background. His father had not been around, his mother had her own difficulties, and he was very close to two sisters. Unfortunately, one of his sisters took her own life in 2019, and he “took a complete nosedive” after that.

Ms Courtney said Smithers had been homeless as long as she had known him. While he “never really got a chance” in life, the solicitor described him as “very articulate and intelligent”.

On that point, Judge Finnegan agreed that he had written “quite a letter”.

But the judge told Ms Courtney that, while the court would be giving credit where it could, it was hard to ignore the number of charges and the length of time over which they occurred.

In selecting nine of the charges, he imposed two-month prison sentences on each, making the terms consecutive - thereby coming to 18 months in total. The selected charges included counts of criminal damage, possessing articles for use in thefts and various instances of dangerous driving and having no insurance.

Driving disqualifications were imposed in three instances, leaving Smithers with a 10-year driving ban overall.

The judge said he was also requesting that the defendant receive psychological and psychiatric treatment while in prison. All remaining counts were being taken into consideration, in recognition of the guilty pleas.

It was indicated by Ms Courtney that her client was not seeking leave to appeal the sentencing.

Meanwhile, although Smithers admitted guilt in respect of the matters listed above, he disputed three additional charges relating to an alleged incident at McGrath Road, Castleblayney, on April 26, 2025. These accuse him of interfering with the mechanism of a car, breaking its window, and stealing from it a purse containing €200 in cash, along with Revolut and AIB bank cards.

At the behest of Sergeant McEntee, Judge Finnegan adjourned these matters for a number of weeks to allow the State determine whether or not to proceed with them.