IRISH mum charged with attempted murder of two Belgian police officers after Christmas Eve high-speed chase.
A 20 year old Irish woman has been charged with trying to mow down two cops after a high-speed chase in Belgium.
Mary Hanrahan, from Belfast, was arrested on Christmas Eve after leading the Belgian police on a 30-minute high-speed chase across three towns.
The mother of one was only stopped after officers shot at her car while her two-year-old sat in the back seat.
The incident began when Ms Hanrahan failed to stop her Volvo S60 at a routine checkpoint just outside the town of Wortel.
She was then pursued by a patrol car through two more villages and country roads. The court heard that at one point she collided with the police car and lost control on a corner, hitting a garden fence.
When eventually cornered after traveling down a one-way street in the town of Beerse, Ms Hanrahan did a U-turn and drove straight at the cops who were forced to draw their service weapons and open fire at the Volvo’s wheels.
Ms Hanrahan continued to accelerate, and almost knocked down two of the Belgian officers at the scene.
She eventually came to a stop on a sandy track when her tyres were fully flat, police alleged in court.
Inside the Northern Ireland-reg car, it was claimed they found her terrified son and niece.
A police source said: “It was a highly dangerous situation and someone might have been hurt.
“Officers had no choice but to stop a car on the point of mowing them down by firing at it. Serious injuries or a fatality could have resulted.”
Hanrahan made no comment in the court and the judge was told that her Belgian lawyer was on holidays in Africa.
She was charged with attempted murder of two police officers, using her car as a weapon to kill and resisting arrest.
The court also heard that Hanrahan’s child was being looked after by family members in the Antwerp area of Belgium.
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