Kildare man on school run knocked down 2 men and then drove off

A Kildare man driving under the influence of drugs mounted a footpath hitting and seriously injuring two men before “calmly” leaving the scene, a court has heard.

Paul Connolly (37), who has 14 convictions for dangerous driving and three for hit and runs, was driving his young child to school at the time. He admitted taking cocaine and tablets the night before.

He was on a 25-year driving ban and had been released from prison about a month previously.

Connolly, who has a total of 215 previous convictions, “undertook” a line of traffic stopped at a railway barrier in Coolmine, Dublin before suddenly swerving onto the footpath where he first hit Michael Igoe (54) and continued driving to hit student Francis Dhala (19), causing him “catastrophic” injuries.

Witnesses described him going back onto the road, doing a U-turn and driving “calmly” from the scene with a smashed windscreen. He was followed by a driving instructor who kept in touch with gardaí until they were able to intercept him.

Mr Igoe sustained a badly fractured ankle, bruising, torn shoulder muscles and concussion from bang to his head. He underwent surgery on his leg and continues to have a limp.

Mr Dhala suffered a severe head injury and underwent multiple surgeries, spending over three months in hospital. He is currently spending weekdays at the National Rehabilitation Centre.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard Mr Dhala has done well since the accident but suffers ongoing issues such as cognitive defects and short-term memory problems. He has recently regained the ability to speak, eat and drink normally.

Connolly told initially gardaí he thought he had hit “a bush.” He later said he had taken his eyes off the road for a second and didn't know he had hit anyone.

Connolly of Cregg Court, Kilmeague, Robertstown, Kildare, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm to Mr Igoe and Mr Dhala at Coolmine Road, Coolmine on May 1, 2018.

He also pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of drugs; possession of cannabis; failing to remain at the scene; failing to offer assistance; failing to alert gardaí; as well as driving without insurance or a driving licence on the same occasion.

Defence counsel, Martin O'Rourke SC, handed in a letter of apology from Connolly and a psychological report into court.

He said Connolly admitted taking cocaine and self-medicating with street benzodiazepine as he had been on anti-depressants but could no longer afford them. He said his client had a difficult family background and started drinking as a 14-year-old, with most of his convictions being drink-related.

Counsel asked Judge Melanie Greally to take note of Connolly's early guilty plea and submitted that incarcerating him for longer and longer periods would not address the causes of his recidivism.

He said if the court accepted Connolly genuinely now wanted to address his issues, suspending a significant portion of any sentence might provide an incentive.

Judge Greally adjourned sentencing until May.

Additional evidence

Garda Emma Gilmore told Diarmuid Collins BL, prosecuting, that Mr Igoe and Mr Dhala were walking separately towards Coolmine train station. The railway barrier was down across the road at the time and there was a queue of traffic stopped at the barrier.

A motorist stopped in traffic described hearing a car revving behind him. He said the car began to overtake him, not on the usual side but on the inside. He said he heard a bang and saw the car moving on the footpath where it hit a boy before going back onto the road.

A pedestrian said she saw the car, not going extremely fast, mount the footpath, where it seemed to speed up before hitting an older man and then a boy. A witness described Mr Dhala “flying into the air” after being hit by the car.

Mr Igoe, who was the first person hit by Connolly, said he did not remember the incident, just waking up in hospital afterwards.

Mr Dhala was on his way to Maynooth University where he was a student and was walking with his sister Grace and a friend. He was so severely injured he was unable to give a statement to gardaí.

Grace said she did not hear a car coming but felt “wind” as it passed her, she then saw her brother lying face down as the car went back onto the road and continued driving. She ran to her brother as their friend phoned an ambulance. She then noticed there was another man lying on the road.

Another motorist at the scene noticed the car had done a U-turn before the railway barrier and was driving back down the road. He said it was not driving erratically or trying to get way and the drivers actions seemed very calm. He said the car's windscreen was about 90pc smashed.

He tried to block the path of the car but it drove around him and away from the scene. He said he could not see the driver’s face but saw a child screaming in the back of the car. He took a photograph of the car with his phone.

The pedestrian witness said the man was driving “weirdly slow” and shaking his head as he looked out the window as he drove back.

A motoring instructor, Mark Murphy, followed Connolly from the scene and kept gardaí updated as to his movements. He described how he was frightened by how calmly Connolly was driving.

When gardaí intercepted him, Connolly identified himself and told them he had “hit a bush” outside the train station.

He passed a breath test at the scene, but a blood test later revealed the presence of cocaine and benzodiazepine. A small amount of cannabis was found mixed with tobacco in his possession.

Connolly told gardaí during interview that he had taken his eyes off the road for a second while changing radio station and talking to his child. He said he did not know he had hit anyone.

He later said he had been picking something up off the ground and that he thought the windscreen had been smashed by hitting the kerb. He said he had been up the night before and had taken cocaine, as well as a street form of Valium that he used to calm himself.

Connolly told gardaí that the witness who said they saw him do a U-turn was lying.

Connolly's 215 previous convictions include 14 dangerous driving, three for hit and run, eight for driving while intoxicated, as well as burglary, theft, criminal damage, assault, fraud and forgery.

He had received numerous driving bans since he was a teenager and was on a 25-year ban imposed in October 2017 at the time of the offences.

Mr O'Rourke said Connolly had written a letter of remorse and also expressed remorse in a psychological report before the court. He asked the court to accept his remorse as genuine.

He asked Judge Greally to consider that this was not a “sustained or prolonged” piece of bad driving and did not involve excessive speed. He submitted the fact that Connolly had left the scene did not increase the harm caused to the victims and they were not left unattended.

Counsel submitted that most of Connolly's previous convictions were drink-related and said Connolly had only been released from prison about a month before this offence. He has been in custody since his arrest.

Mr O'Rourke said Connolly had grown up in a traumatic and difficult family environment. He began drinking at 14 years old and was serving sentences by the time he was 18 years old. The death of his father when Connolly was 24 years old had a huge effect on him.