A 74-year-old man is to appear before Cork Circuit Criminal Court later this year on four charges arising out of a hit-and-run incident in which a consultant psychiatrist was killed as he walked back to his hotel.
On Thursday Denis McSweeney of Pouladuff Road, Ballyphehane, Cork indicated guilty pleas to four charges before Cork District Court. The charges relate to the death of 49-year-old Martin Lawlor on December 15th, 2018 on the Airport Road in Cork.
The case came before Cork Circuit Criminal Court on Friday but was not heard. It was listed for hearing on June 15th next.
A formal plea will have to be confirmed at Circuit Court level on that occasion.
McSweeney was charged with failing to stop his vehicle after an incident, failing to keep his vehicle at the scene of an accident, failing to report a traffic incident to gardaí and failing to give appropriate information to gardaí.
Defence solicitor, Frank Buttimer, said McSweeney was prepared to appear on signed pleas of guilty to all four counts.
McSweeney was remanded on bail to appear again on June 15th.
Dr Lawlor, who was a father of three and a native of Tralee, Co Kerry, died after he incurred fatal injuries after he was hit by a vehicle as he walked on the N27 Cork Airport Road at 5.30am. He was walking back to the Airport Hotel when he was knocked down.
His family home was in Manchester but he worked for periods in Cork.
Dr Lawlor was the director of the Centre for Recovery and Social Inclusion in Ireland. He was also the founder of State of Mind Ireland along with his sister, Dr Susan Lawlor.
He was known as a great champion of mental health. He particularly advocated for increased awareness of the importance of mental health within sports and youth clubs.
When he died tributes came from among others Kerin O’Rahilly’s GAA Club in Tralee.
Dr Lawlor was a graduate of University College Dublin (UCD) and the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He commenced employment with the HSE South in 2005.