A Royal Navy Lieutenant left officers in his car terrified on a trip to Faslane as he raced on a motorway at speeds of 113mph and told them ‘I’m allergic to driving slowly’, a court martial has heard.
Lieutenant Tiarnan Gallagher, 30, made two Navy officers ‘fear for their safety’ in his high-powered BMW with his dangerous driving, it is alleged.
As well as speeding, Lt Gallagher is accused of ‘driving erratically’ and ‘weaving in and out of traffic’ on a long journey to the Navy base in Dunbartonshire.
He is alleged to have used his phone to send texts and shuffle music with ‘one hand on the wheel’ and sped up to cars before braking and undertaking them.
His colleagues, Sub-Lieutenant Henry Wilson and Sub-Lieutenant Alexander Wardlow, were so concerned that they tried to persuade him to let them drive but he was ‘hellbent’ on driving.
At Bulford Military Court, Wilts, he is accused of one count of dangerous driving. Lt Gallagher was driving a rental BMW 3 Series.
It was heard that on 27 October 2024, after completing three weeks of training at HMS Raleigh in Cornwall, the three servicemen had to travel to the base to complete a final week of training.
Lt Gallagher’s colleague, Sub Lt Wilson, checked out the hire car at HMS Raleigh to drive to Faslane at about 10am, and drove to pick up Lt Gallagher from HMS Drake in Plymouth.
Lieutenant Tiarnan Gallagher, 30, made two Navy officers ‘fear for their safety’ in his high-powered BMW
Sub Lt Wilson described how the two didn’t have much of a relationship outside of the courses they both attended.
He said that while he was driving the first leg of the 500 mile trip, Lt Gallagher told him to ‘put his foot down and see what the car could do’.
Sub Lt Wilson said he replied: ‘The car will do 70 miles per hour.’
The pair stopped at Michaelwood Services near Bristol and swapped places, which is when Lt Gallagher’s dangerous driving is alleged to have begun.
Sub Lt Wilson said he was ‘worried’ at the speed his colleague was driving, even reporting that he at one time reached 113mph on the M5 motorway.
He also alleged that Lt Gallagher was on his phone sending texts and shuffling through his music with ‘one hand on the wheel’, and that he would speed up to cars and suddenly brake before undertaking them.
Sub Lt Wilson said it left him with ‘white knuckles on the dashboard’ when Lt Gallagher repeatedly refused to slow down.
They reached Uttoxeter at about 2.30pm and picked up their colleague, Sub Lt Wardlow, whom Sub Lt Wilson said he told about Lt Gallagher’s driving when the lieutenant was out of earshot.
They agreed not to let him drive again, and shared the next leg of the journey between them. However, he criticised their driving.
And when they stopped for petrol at around 19:30 in Gretna, Dumfriesshire, both sublieutenants had to leave the car. One refilled the petrol while the other went in to pay.
They allege that while outside the car, Lt Gallagher ‘climbed’ from the back seat into the driver’s seat and refused to leave.
The two witnesses described how the senior officer was ‘hellbent’ on driving, and as it was dark and because they were closer to Faslane, they decided to go along with it.
But as they merged back onto the motorway, they said that Lt Gallagher drove across a solid white line too early and was ‘a metre or two’ from hitting the back of a lorry.
Both sublieutenants described it as ‘unpleasant’ and ‘dangerous driving’, and said they wouldn’t ever want to let him drive again, with one calling the experience ‘frightening’.
Sub Lt Wardlow told the court: ‘He was frequently on his phone behind the wheel and dismissed [Sub Lt Wilson] when he was called out.
‘He was hellbent on driving. He was accelerating on the roundabouts and would brake sharply. I didn’t want to be in a car with him. It was dangerous driving.’
He continued: ‘He was on his phone for music. We told him to stop and he was very blasé about it and didn’t see a problem. He would say “I’m allergic to driving slowly” and “I can’t go in the slow lane”.
‘He also said that we were in a hire car so we could do what we wanted. His driving was unsafe and frightening in parts.’
Prosecuting, Lieutenant Commander Luis Canosa said: ‘Lt Gallagher drove erratically. On the motorway he accelerated hard and was speeding. He weaved in and out of traffic.
‘He drove while using his mobile phone to send texts and shuffle his music. He would speed up to the back of traffic.
‘They picked up [the second sublieutenant] and Wilson explained how [Lt Gallagher] had been driving. They decided he wouldn’t drive.
‘They stopped to refuel and [Lt Gallagher] climbed into the driver’s seat. They told him to leave but he said no and said he would drive.’
Lt Cdr Canosa added: ‘They decided to take him off the insurance to stop him driving again. They then told the police.
‘He said he never speeded and drove safely. He used dangerous manoeuvres again and again while driving.’
Mark Karpinski, defending, said that Lt Gallagher’s colleagues made up allegations.
The trial continues.