A garda accused of dangerous driving causing serious injury to a Brazilian delivery man whose leg was severed at the M50 in 2023 has pleaded not guilty, a court has heard.

João Henrique Ferreira, 24, who had lived in Ireland for five years, had been assisting friends in locating a stolen bicycle when the incident allegedly occurred on a slip road to the motorway in Tallaght, Dublin.

Following a probe by Fiosrú, (formerly GSOC), criminal proceedings commenced against Garda Neil Doyle of Dundrum station.

He was first summonsed to appear at Dublin District Court on 8 May on a charge of dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm at Junction 11, north on the M50, on 28 October 2023.

The court had ordered the prosecution to provide defence solicitor, Liz Hughes, with disclosure of evidence “as soon as possible” and adjourned the case.

The Director of Public Prosecutions directed summary disclosure in the District Court on a guilty plea. Otherwise, it would have to go to the Circuit Court, which has wider sentencing powers.

Today, Ms Hughes told Judge Michele Finan that, having received significant disclosure of evidence, she could inform the court that it was a not guilty plea.

The garda was present but remained silent during the proceedings.

Judge Finan noted the defence position and adjourned the case until 12 January for prosecutors to complete and serve a book of evidence on the defendant, and to grant a return for trial order.

Mr Ferreira had travelled back from Brazil for the proceedings on earlier dates but was not required to address the court. He did not have to attend today.

At a previous stage, the judge was told Mr Ferreira “was anxious for the court to hear from him about the seriousness of the injuries” and he was due to undergo further prosthetic surgery over the summer.

When the prosecution first came before the court in May, the defence had sought disclosure of prosecution evidence “as soon as possible” so the garda’s legal team could “consider his position”.

Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly has said he is reviewing the garda operational policing model – the structure through which the gardaí police the country – because there are “inefficiencies” and it is “not working well” in parts.

Commissioner Kelly told the Police and Community Safety Authority there were often disagreements in functional areas over who deals with what crime and there were problems in Roads Traffic Policing.

His comments are in marked contrast to those of his predecessor Drew Harris, who consistently insisted the model was working well in spite of claims to the contrary from gardaí at all ranks.

Commissioner Kelly also said there needed to be consistency in the operation of the model.

He described the findings of the Crowe report, which found that some gardaí in roads policing were not doing their job and had no interest in doing it as “shocking and disappointing”.

He accepted the current system of governance and oversight in roads policing was not working, saying it is “not doing the job we want it to do”.

He added an implementation group was looking at numbers, deployments and individual accountability in the department.

It was also looking at performance management in relation to the senior officers who are supposed to supervise gardaí not doing their job, as well as fleet distribution, policies and procedures.

The newly appointed Assistant Commissioner in charge of roads policing also told the authority that they were preparing a “structured time bound plan” to change the culture and work ethic in roads policing which would deliver “high standards, productivity and accountability”.

The Commissioner also told the Authority that there had been some “absolutely horrific” attacks on gardaí including “assailants with swords and weapons” and “incidents where officers have had to retreat”.

Commissioner Kelly said he was committed to providing gardaí with the equipment they needed to do their job and was planning a pilot programme on the introduction of tasers for frontline officers.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that the Kremlin will become a target and Russian officials should check for bomb shelters if Moscow does not stop its invasion of his country, Axios has reported.

Russia has occupied about 20 percent of Ukraine and rained bombs and missiles on civilian and military sites since launching a full-scale invasion in 2022, with Moscow’s forces striking the government complex in Kyiv for the first time this month.

Mr Zelensky said that Ukrainian policy would also now put previously off-limits targets in the crosshairs, Axios reported.

“They have to know where their bomb shelters are,” Mr Zelensky told Axios in an interview. “They need it. If they will not stop the war, they will need it in any case.”

Answering criticism from US President Donald Trump and his right-wing government over the indefinite suspension of elections in wartime Ukraine, Mr Zelensky also told Axios that he would not seek to remain in power once peace comes.

“My goal is to finish the war,” not to continue to run for office, he said.

Mr Zelensky said Ukraine would not target civilians in Russia because “we are not terrorists”.

However, he indicated that Ukraine hopes to obtain a more powerful US weapon, which he did not name, to threaten strikes deep inside Russia.

Axios quoted Mr Zelensky as saying he had told Mr Trump during a meeting in New York this week “what we need – one thing”.

Trump growing ‘impatient’

“If we will have such long-distance weapons from the United States, we will use it,” he said in a clip of the interview released by Axios.

US and European backing for Ukraine’s ability to strike deep inside Russia has often wavered, with Washington and European capitals nervous of provoking Moscow into an expanded conflict.

However, Ukraine is now frequently hitting Russian energy industry installations and Mr Zelensky said Mr Trump had given him the green light to continue.

He said Mr Trump had told him that he “supports that we can answer on energ”.

Mr Trump said following his meeting with Mr Zelensky earlier this week that Ukraine could win back all of its territory from Russia – an astonishing turnaround after months of saying Kyiv would likely have to cede land to its larger neighbor.

The US leader also called for NATO countries to shoot down any Russian fighter jets violating their airspace, following a series of incidents that have rattled US allies in Eastern Europe.

It marks a major shift on Ukraine for Mr Trump, who told Mr Zelensky during a televised Oval Office bust-up in February that “you don’t have the cards” to beat Russia.

The change in views by the US president reflects his growing frustration with Mr Putin since a summit in Alaska on 15 August failed to produce a breakthrough, and was instead followed by increased Russian attacks.

Vice President JD Vance has warned that Mr Trump was “growing incredibly impatient” with Moscow, saying the US leader “doesn’t feel like they’re putting enough on the table to end the war”.

“If the Russians refuse to negotiate in good faith, I think it’s going to be very, very bad for their country,” Mr Vance added.