{"id":324641,"date":"2026-03-02T07:50:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T07:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/324641\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T07:50:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T07:50:10","slug":"inquest-opens-into-death-of-man-killed-in-balbriggan-hit-and-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/324641\/","title":{"rendered":"Inquest opens into death of man killed in Balbriggan hit-and-run"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>At the time of the incident, garda\u00ed had to appeal to members of the public not to post images and video footage of the scene on social media platforms.<\/p>\n<p>18:00, 01 Mar 2026Updated 19:08, 01 Mar 2026<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Gardai this morning at the scene of a fatal hit and run, which happened at about 9pm on Monday evening on Railway Street in Balbriggan, Co Dublin\" loading=\"eager\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1_JS373386604.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"Gardai at the scene of a fatal hit and run, which happened on Railway Street in Balbriggan, Co Dublin on June 24, 2025\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Gardai at the scene of a fatal hit and run, which happened on Railway Street in Balbriggan, Co Dublin on June 24, 2025(Image: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">An individual has been charged with the murder of a Roma man killed in a hit-and-run <a aria-label=\"road traffic collisionLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishmirror.ie\/all-about\/road-traffic-accidents\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">road traffic collision<\/a> in Balbriggan last year, an inquest has heard.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Marcel Rostas (33) a married father-of-three, died on Railway Street in Balbriggan, Co Dublin on June 24, 2025 after <a aria-label=\"being struck by a vehicle which failed to remain at the sceneLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishmirror.ie\/news\/irish-news\/balbriggan-hit-and-run-crash-35441244\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">being struck by a vehicle which failed to remain at the scene<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">A black saloon car observed in the area at the time was later abandoned following a collision with another vehicle on Drogheda Street, Balbriggan shortly after the fatal incident which occurred around 9pm.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">At the opening of an inquest into the death of Mr Rostas at Dublin District Coroner\u2019s Court, a brother of the deceased gave evidence of formally identifying his brother\u2019s body to garda\u00ed at the Dublin City Mortuary in Whitehall.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1_JS373386632.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"Gardai at the scene of a fatal hit and run, which happened on Railway Street in Balbriggan at about 9pm on Monday, June 24, 2025\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Gardai at the scene of a fatal hit and run, which happened on Railway Street in Balbriggan at about 9pm on Monday, June 24, 2025(Image: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The coroner, Cr\u00f3na Gallagher, said the results of a postmortem showed Ms Rostas had died from multiple traumatic injuries due to a road traffic collision.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">At the time of the incident, garda\u00ed had to appeal to members of the public not to post images and video footage of the scene on social media platforms.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Detective Inspector Brian Downey applied for an adjournment of the inquest under Section 25 (2) of the Coroners Act on the basis that criminal proceedings had been initiated in relation to the circumstances of Mr Rostas\u2019 death.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Det Insp Downey told the coroner that a person had been charged with the deceased\u2019s murder on the direction of the DPP and an individual is currently before the courts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">A Romanian national, Daniel Rostas (42) of Hastings Green, Balbriggan, who is not related to the deceased, appeared before Dublin District Court two days after the fatal incident when he was originally charged with assault causing serious harm to Mircea Rostas, contrary to Section 4 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Garda Technical Bureau officers this morning at the scene of a fatal hit and run, which happened at about 9pm on Monday evening on Railway Street in Balbriggan, Co Dublin\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2_JS373390564.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"Garda Technical Bureau officers at the scene of a fatal hit and run on Railway Street in Balbriggan, Co Dublin\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Garda Technical Bureau officers at the scene of a fatal hit and run on Railway Street in Balbriggan, Co Dublin(Image: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The court heard the accused made no reply after being charged at Balbriggan Garda station.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The evidence before the inquest shows the Garda inquiry was subsequently updated to a murder investigation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Dr Gallagher adjourned the hearing to a date to be fixed following the conclusion of related criminal proceedings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Want to see more of the stories you love from the Irish Mirror? <a 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To add Irish Mirror as a preferred source, simply <a aria-label=\"click hereLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=irishmirror.ie\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At the time of the incident, garda\u00ed had to appeal to members of the public not to post&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324642,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[54,61,60,43,16669],"class_list":{"0":"post-324641","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-courts","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-road-deaths"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324641","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=324641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324641\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}