{"id":137836,"date":"2025-11-13T16:12:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T16:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/137836\/"},"modified":"2025-11-13T16:12:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T16:12:10","slug":"man-was-left-to-die-like-a-dog-in-the-road-after-limerick-hit-and-run-court-hears-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/137836\/","title":{"rendered":"Man was \u2018left to die like a dog in the road\u2019 after Limerick hit-and-run, court hears \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A man who was killed by a disqualified driver in a Limerick<\/a> hit-and-run incident was left \u201cto die like a dog in the road\u201d, the deceased man\u2019s sister has said.<\/p>\n

\u00c1ine Forde told the sentencing hearing of Danny Connors (30), who fatally injured James Forde (56) in the incident, that her brother was \u201cthe absolute opposite\u201d of him.<\/p>\n

Connors, of Clondrinagh Halting Site, Limerick, ran a red light and hit Mr Forde as he walked on a pedestrian crossing at Ennis Road, Limerick, on November 26th, 2024.<\/p>\n

The 30-year-old, who was banned from driving at the time and had 120 previous convictions, consumed cannabis before getting into his car and drove dangerously along the Ennis Road at about 2pm, the court heard.<\/p>\n

Mr Forde, who was crossing with a green pedestrian light, was halfway across the road when Connors struck him, sending him into the air and causing a fatal traumatic brain injury. He was pronounced dead later that day. <\/p>\n

Prosecuting barrister John O\u2019Sullivan told a sentencing hearing for Connors at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court<\/a>: \u201cMr Forde was struck violently, he went airborne in a cartwheel. <\/p>\n

\u201cMr Connors fled the scene at speed, he neither stopped or offered assistance.\u201d<\/p>\n

A motorist who had been travelling directly behind Connors told garda\u00ed that the defendant \u201cdidn\u2019t break until he was on top of the pedestrian\u201d, Mr O\u2019Sullivan said.<\/p>\n

Connors pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death, two counts of dangerous driving, driving without insurance, driving without a licence, failing to offer assistance at the scene of a collision, and failing to remain at the scene intending to escape civil or criminal liability. <\/p>\n

Ms Forde told the court her brother\u2019s \u201cviolent and untimely death\u201d would haunt her family forever.<\/p>\n

Looking at Connors in the dock, she said: \u201cYou left him to die like a dog in the road. We bitterly regret that James ever crossed paths with someone like you, the absolute opposite of everything he was.\u201d<\/p>\n

The court heard that after fleeing the scene, Connors went straight home and parked his car.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m heartbroken for that man and his family. He did nothing wrong and I killed him. I wish it had been me instead of him,\u201d Connors told garda\u00ed after being arrested. <\/p>\n

Mark Nicholas SC, for Connors, told the court it was an \u201cenormous tragedy\u201d.<\/p>\n

He asked Judge Colin Daly to take into consideration that Connors pleaded guilty, meaning there was no requirement for a trial. He said the plea showed an awareness of the consequences of his \u201cdisgraceful\u201d actions.<\/p>\n

Counsel said the defendant has five children, including two who have special needs, and plays an important role in parenting them.<\/p>\n

The judge said he had \u201ca lot to consider\u201d and adjourned sentencing to next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A man who was killed by a disqualified driver in a Limerick hit-and-run incident was left \u201cto die…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":137837,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[13553,42,1396,43,11318,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-137836","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-circuit-court","9":"tag-headlines","10":"tag-limerick","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-road-safety","13":"tag-top-news","14":"tag-top-stories","15":"tag-topnews","16":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137836\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}