Wheel danger Dad found stumbling along busy M50 by gardaí ‘lucky to be alive’

Sgt Callaghan said gardaí went to the scene and found Harris was stumbling along, and oncoming traffic had to swerve to avoid hitting him. He was arrested for his own safety.

M50 Stock photo

Eimear Cotter

May 05 2022 08:53 AM

A pedestrian was “lucky to be alive” after he was found stumbling along the busy M50 motorway, with cars swerving to avoid him, a court heard.

Alan Harris (43) was convicted and fined €100 after he appeared before Judge David McHugh at Blanchardstown District Court.

The defendant, of Canon Lillis Avenue, Seville Place, Dublin 1, admitted being a danger to traffic on the M50 southbound between Junction 5 Finglas and 6 Blanchardstown on February 2, 2022.

Sergeant Maria Callaghan said that gardaí received numerous calls about a man who was walking by the barrier of the fast lane on the M50.

Sgt Callaghan said gardaí went to the scene and found Harris was stumbling along, and oncoming traffic had to swerve to avoid hitting him. He was arrested for his own safety.

Defence lawyer Ciaran MacLoughlin said Harris was “clearly a danger to himself and others”.

“That’s putting it mildly,” said Judge McHugh. “Good God, the M50. He’s lucky to be alive”.

Mr MacLoughlin said Harris, a dad of one, had battled a drug addiction when he was a younger man, but had been off heroin and stabilised on methadone for over a decade.