A MAN who fatally injured a 20-year-old Trinity College student in a hit-and-run crash and later claimed someone else had been driving his car has been remanded in custody pending sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Eric Doyle (44), who has 39 previous road traffic convictions, had been disqualified from driving for four years just two months before the fatal incident and has since accrued convictions for drunk driving, driving without insurance and driving with excess speed.
Doyle, of Whitechurch Avenue, Ballyboden, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of 20-year-old Lily Hastings-Bass on Rathgar Road on November 26th, 2006.
He also pleaded guilty to driving without insurance or a driving licence, and failing to stop on the same occasion.
Garda Insp George McGeary said gardaí were able to map Doyle’s movements through “cross triangulation” of his mobile phone signal and believe he was on the phone at the time of the fatal incident near the student’s residence in Rathgar.
Garda forensic experts were able to match samples from the deceased woman to specimens from the car and determined that the car had been travelling at between 60 and 76km/h in a 50km/h zone.
Doyle is currently serving a six- month sentence imposed in Arklow District Court on January 28th last for drunken driving, driving without insurance or a driving licence, and giving a false name under the road traffic Act at Ballynattin, Arklow on March 20th, 2008.
Doyle left the scene after hitting Ms Hastings-Bass but gardaí, acting on information from an anonymous phone call, found his car had damage consistent with having struck a pedestrian at high speed.
Ms Hastings-Bass, from Berkshire in England, was studying English and History at Trinity College Dublin and had been in Ireland for only two months. She died after 11 days on a life-support machine.
The family of Ms Hastings-Bass, who were not in court, outlined in a written victim impact report how they were “devastated” by her death and how Doyle’s “utter callousness” in failing to stop at the scene and attempting to blame another person had exacerbated their grief.
Defence counsel Erwan Mill-Arden SC said Doyle wished him to convey his “personal remorse, shame and very deep regret over what had happened and his inability to deal with the matter”.
Judge Katherine Delahunt remanded Doyle in custody until March for sentencing.
Insp McGeary told Vincent Heneghan, prosecuting, that Ms Hastings-Bass was returning with friends to a student residence after dinner with friends when the incident occurred.
A friend of Ms Hastings-Bass told gardaí that as they began crossing the road a Nissan Micra approached “unnaturally quickly” and as she reached the pavement she heard a “wooden empty thud” behind her.
She said it was her opinion that the driver was not looking at the road ahead. Ms Hastings-Bass was taken to hospital and underwent surgery, but died 11 days later.
Insp McGeary said Doyle had initially named a member of the Travelling community as the driver of the car on the day.