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A former bus driver whose ex partner believed he had driven into the back of a lorry on the M1 to kill her – has been jailed four years.
Dubliner Anthony Smyth, 55, of Orchard Villas, Newry, Co Down, admitted dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm on the M1 at Feede, Dundalk on May 18, 2023.
A second count of endangerment is being taken into consideration.
At Dundalk Circuit Court, Judge Dara Hayes said: “He used his car as a weapon against his ex-partner and he could have killed them both.”
The court heard Smyth’s ex-partner of 32 years believed Smyth was bringing her to a hospital in Newry.
However, between Junctions 19 and 20, the Audi was travelling at between 160kph and 175kph in a 120kph zone and skirting between two lanes before it crashed into a flatbed trailer.
This caused the Audi in which the pair were travelling to flip.
The woman alleged that he crashed deliberately into the lorry at speed and that she blacked out afterwards.
Smyth claimed he had dropped a lit cigarette in the footwell and had bent down to pick it up.
The judge said: “To do that at speed is dangerous.” He added there was a wide hard shoulder available to stop.
In a victim impact statement, Smyth’s ex-partner said she spent three days in hospital with physical injuries and suffers psychological injuries including nightmares, becomes irritable and emotional and that she has “been given a sentence with no end”.
Smyth was also banned from driving for 10 years.
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