A truck driver who drove through a stop-sign junction seriously injuring the father of Irish rugby star Conor Murray was previously convicted of drink driving, a hit-and-run offence and careless driving, a court has heard.
Gerry Murray, the father of the Ireland, Munster and Lions rugby player, was cycling home around 3pm on February 7th, 2023 when truck driver Seamus Hanrahan, who was pulling a slurry tanker, struck him, leaving the 70-year-old cyclist with a significant brain injury.
Mr Murray, who is married to former Irish international squash player Barbara Murray, had to learn how to walk and talk properly again through a long regime of medical therapies, Limerick Circuit Criminal Court heard.
Hanrahan (53), from Kilmore, Granagh, Co Limerick, pleaded guilty to one count of careless driving causing serious bodily harm to Mr Murray.
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Prosecuting barrister Lily Buckley told Hanrahan’s sentencing hearing that the married father of three from a well-known pig-farming family was travelling within the speed limit along a slip road to the N20 on the day.
Ms Buckley said Hanrahan “didn’t stop when he should have” at the junction, despite road markings and a red stop sign indicating road users must stop before moving out on to the main road.
Taxi driver Jim Lynch, described in court as a “crucial independent witness”, told gardaí at the scene that Hanrahan didn’t stop at the junction and that he saw Mr Murray’s bike being “thrown out on to the road”.
Hanrahan, who passed a Garda roadside breathalyser test for alcohol and drugs, remained at the scene and put his coat over Mr Murray, the court heard.
He told gardaí he stopped at the junction before looking left and right, and that, when he did not see anyone coming, he drove out on to the main road.
He “heard a bang”, parked up his rig on the side of the road, and discovered Mr Murray lying on the ground, he told gardaí.
Ms Buckley argued that Hanrahan’s statement about him looking left and right “did not appear” to tally with Mr Lynch’s Garda statement.
Mr Murray was treated at the scene by paramedics and rushed by ambulance to University Hospital Limerick (UHL) where doctors diagnosed him with a “severe traumatic brain injury”, a fractured skull, and bleeds to his brain.
Mr Murray’s condition deteriorated at UHL and he was transferred to Cork University Hospital (CUH), put into a medically induced coma and monitored in the hospital’s intensive care unit for seven days.
Mr Murray spent six weeksat CUH and a further 10 days at St Camillus’ Hospital, Limerick, undergoing occupational therapy as well as speech and language therapy.
Mr Murray, who was present in court, was wearing a helmet at the time of the collision, which was “extensively damaged”, Ms Buckley said.
In a victim impact statement, Mr Murray said the first he knew of the collision was when he woke out of his coma in hospital 2½ weeks afterwards.
“The next five weeks were spent learning to walk and doing all the basic tasks in life. I have constant tinnitus and have lost my hearing in my left ear,” Mr Murray said.
Mr Murray said he “missed” his son’s wedding abroad because doctors advised him “not to fly because of the fractures to my skull, so I missed what was a major family event”.
“Life for me has completely changed and I have been trying hard to get back to pre-accident days, but there is a long [road] ahead as I am still having rehab.”
The court heard Hanrahan had convictions for road traffic matters, including an offence of dangerous driving reduced to careless driving, an offence relating to a hit and run, failing to remain at the scene of a collision, drunk driving, failure to display a current vehicle licence and driving an untaxed vehicle.
The maximum sentence available to the court is one of two years in prison and/or a €10,000 fine. The court can also impose a driving ban.
Hanrahan’s defence barrister, Amy Nix BL, asked the court to consider in mitigation that he has family responsibilities that require him to be able to drive and that he is an “upstanding, hard-working member of his local community”.
“He is carrying the guilt with him everywhere, he wishes he could wind back the clock and prevent Mr Murray’s injuries. He has held up his hands, he wishes to apologise publicly to Mr Murray,” she said.
“It was a momentary lapse of concentration, which had devastating consequences. Every time he closes his eyes, he sees Mr Murray lying on the ground.”
Judge Colin Daly said he had “much to consider” and adjourned sentencing to May 2nd. Hanrahan, who was supported in court by his wife and a brother, was remanded on bail.
