A motorist who knocked a cyclist from his bike and killed him before driving off but later walked free from court has now been jailed by a different judge for insurance motoring offences.
Zigimantas Gridzuiska – a 39-year-old from Lithuania but with an address at Adross Avenue in Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan – hit and killed 23-year-old Shane O’Farrell, from Monaghan, in 2011.
He was killed as he cycled along the N2 Dublin to Derry road between Carrickmacross and Castleblayney in Co Monaghan on the night of August 2nd. He was a triathlete and was out training at the time.
Gridzuiska appeared in court last month in relation to the fatal hit and run. The court was told that while the Lithuanian could have been in no doubt he had hit the deceased, Mr O’Farrell was struck after 10pm on the night of August 2nd and was not adequately lit up at the time.
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Gridzuiska drove on and left his Rover 500 at a friend’s house before going home. He presented himself to the Garda the following day.
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He faced a range of criminal charges and was put on trial in January for one of those charges; dangerous driving. He was cleared.
Last month he appeared in court again, this time before Judge Patrick McCartan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. He was given a suspended eight-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to failing to stop at the scene of a crash, failing to stay at the scene and failing to report the crash to gardaí. He also pleaded guilty to driving a defective vehicle.
Judge McCartan said he would not have to serve his eight month prison sentence if he left Ireland within 21 days, despite the accused having 49 previous convictions. Of these, nine were for road traffic incidents but others were for drugs offences, theft and handling stolen property.
The victim’s mother, Lucia O’Farrell confronted Gridzuiska after the sentence hearing last month and told him: “You murdered my son, how dare you. There is no justice.”
Just weeks after he fatally injured Mr O’Farrell, Gridzuiska was stopped by gardai in relation to motor insurance offences.
He has now appeared in court on three insurance charges and yesterday was sentenced to five months in jail by Judge Sean MacBride at Carrickmacross District Court. He had committed fraud in obtaining insurance cover to enable him drive. Of the three offences he was jailed for, one related to the period when he killed Mr O’Farrell and the other two were unrelated.
While Judge McCartan told Gridzuiska last month that he must leave the country within 10 days as a condition of his sentence being suspended, it is not clear if that sentence will be activated given the fact that Gridzuiska is still in Ireland.
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