At Cork Circuit Criminal Court, Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin said the truck driver's behaviour, even without the faults to his vehicle, was criminally negligent.
A haulier whose truck was found to have 70 faults during an inspection but did nothing to rectify them and then ran over a cyclist out training, paralysing him and leaving him suicidal, has been jailed for four years.
Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin handed down the sentence at Cork Circuit Criminal Court today to truck driver Tim Walsh.
He said Walsh's failure to fix up his vehicle after the faults, including a broken mirror and lights and faulty brakes, had been found during an inspection had led to such serious consequences.
Judge Ó Donnabháin said he was familiar with the section of road where the crash occurred and believed any driver trying to overtake a cyclist on that spot was being criminally negligent.
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“But to do it in this truck with all these defects including brakes, lights and a broken mirror which restricted his view and had an impact in the collision; simply beggars belief,” he said.
Vincent O’Driscoll, a 31-year-old from Gurranabraher in Co Cork, was not expected to survive being hit by a haulier’s truck carrying a 42 tonne lumber load in August of last year. A triathlete, he was out training at the time.
“I'm a forgiving person and I understand accidents do happen, but accidents like mine could easily be avoided with a bit of patience on the part of drivers,” Mr O'Driscoll said in his victim impact statement.
“I think my accident could have been avoided; I think the truck driver was reckless in relation to my safety. He didn’t give me a chance.”
The wheels of the truck driven by Walsh, also from Cork, ran over Mr O’Driscoll after knocking him from his bike. The vehicle was attempting to overtake him on a hill on the N22 two miles from Macroom on August 7th last.
Walsh, Moneen, Glanworth, Co Cork, had pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing serious injury to Mr O’Driscoll, when the case was last in court earlier this month.
On that occasion, Cork Circuit Criminal Court was told Mr O’Driscoll was left with a range of catastrophic injuries, the most severe of which was a severed spinal cord, resulting in his paralysis.
He also sustained a fractured pelvis, two broken hips, broken legs and broken ankles. As well as a number of more minor injuries to his head and shoulder, Mr O’Driscoll also suffered failure of the liver and kidney and suffered bowel and bladder damage.
In a victim impact statement he said despite his injuries the physiological side of his condition was perhaps worse.
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He used to be happy but had contemplated suicide and had woken from a coma to a new body he was not familiar with.
He was now a different person and he was unsure if he would ever get over what had happened.
“I’ve talked to my psychologist and she reckons that I’m not depressed but that I’m grieving for the body I had and the life I had,” he said in his statement read to the court.
He urged drivers to be patient, saying the unwillingness of the truck driver who hit him to give him space had radically changed his life.
He continued to suffer from pain which meant that after a period of two or three hours in a wheelchair he had to lie down.
He said his injuries would shorten his life expectancy by between 15 to 30 years. He wears a colostomy bag because his bowel is damaged and a catheter because his bladder was damaged and it was unclear if that would continue for the rest of his life.
The court was told a Department of the Environment check on Walsh's vehicle two months before the incident had revealed 70 defects, including to the braking system; with no effort having been made to fix them.
Judge Ó Donnabháin earlier this month agreed to adjourn the case to allow for a psychiatric report to be presented on Walsh.
When the case came back before the judge today he jailed Walsh for four years, with one year suspended.
The court was told Walsh was under stress at the time of the incident as his brother had gone missing in Britain and it subsequently emerged he had taken his own life.
Judge Ó Donnabháin also accepted the fact Walsh was the main carer for his son, aged 16 years; adding it was he who would also suffer as a result of his father going to jail.
However, given the facts of the case he had no option but to jail Walsh, who was also banned from driving for 15 years.
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