Scenes of chaos as Kilkenny man drove straight at Garda car before swerving through traffic at high-speed

A Kilkenny man who played chicken with a Garda patrol car and then swerved through traffic as he tried to escape has been arrested and is due in court.

Kilkenny gardai responded to call from the public of a car driving dangerously on the Church Hill, Cuffesgrange on the outskirts of the city on Thursday evening at 8pm.

A short time later, as gardai arrived at the scene, they passed the car driving erratically heading in the direction of Kilkenny.

To the officers’ amazement, the driver then did a u-turn and drove directly at the patrol car at high-speed, before swerving at the last moment to avoid a collision.

The man then fled the scene in the direction of Callan swerving between oncoming traffic as he tried to make his escape.

The car was eventually stopped and the male driver was arrested and charged with dangerous driving.

During the arrest, it was discovered the man was wanted in relation to an outstanding theft which occurred at a supermarket in Kilkenny earlier this week. He now faces charges in relation to that incident also.

The suspect also faces a charge in relation to breaching non-essential Covid-19 travel restrictions.

He is due to appear at the next sitting of Kilkenny District Court.