A teenage girl remains in a critical condition in hospital after a car in which she was a passenger was stolen in Kilkenny city by a man who later died when it crashed.
The girl, who has special needs, was airlifted to University Hospital Waterford with what were described as serious injuries. She underwent surgery on Saturday and has been transferred to a Dublin-based hospital.
The girl, who was adopted from Belarus by a Kilkenny family as a child, was sitting in the back seat of her father’s car on Green Street shortly after 3pm on Friday when Dale Fogarty stole the vehicle. Her father, a well-known accountant, had left the car running while briefly visiting his office in the city.
Mr Fogarty had a number of convictions and had been living in sheltered accommodation in Kilkenny city. He crashed the stolen car into another car on the N77 between Kilkenny city and Ballyragget just before 4pm on Friday. There has been a number of reports of a car driving dangerously shortly before the crash. His body was taken to St Luke’s hospital in Kilkenny following the crash.
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Emergency services from Kilkenny city and Ballyragget were on the scene within minutes of the crash.
A woman in her 40s and two men in their 60s who were in the second car were taken to St Luke’s hospital where they are being treated for non-life threatening injuries. It is believed they were on their way to a wedding in the city at the time of the fatal collision.
Mr Fogarty, a father of two originally from Clogh, Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny, is understood to have had addiction issues. He was a petty criminal who was well known to gardaí, including for vehicle theft, and had a large number of previous convictions. Gardaí suspect he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time he stole the car and that the theft was opportunistic.
In 2012, he was stabbed at a social gathering in an apartment in Kilkenny city. His friend Kieran Monahan (21), was also stabbed and died from his injuries. While a major criminal investigation was launched, the suspect was not prosecuted after he said he was defending himself in his own home. That defence was accepted by the Director of Public Prosecutions, though the Monahan family strongly disagreed at the time and called for further action. The suspect’s defence was the first under the Criminal Law Defence and the Dwelling Act 2011, which had come into force one month earlier and gave householders the right to use force when protecting themselves and their property.
Gardaí are appealing for anyone with dashcam footage or who may have been in the area of Green’s Bridge in Kilkenny and on the N77 along the stretch of the road between Hennebry’s Cross and Dinan Bridge where the collision occurred between 3pm and 4pm to contact them on 056-7775000, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.
The road where the collision occurred reopened on Saturday after forensic investigators finished their examination of the scene.
Speaking at the Fine Gael ardfheis, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said: “It’s a very devastating incident to happen, full stop. No doubt, very terrifying for the people involved, and in particular the woman [teenager] involved.”