The Dublin motorist previously received a two-year suspended sentence. The cyclist suffered broken hands, a dislocated shoulder and serious head injuries.
A motorist who hit a cyclist and left him with serious injuries after driving through a red light has been given a suspended sentence.
The same man had previously had an unrelated two-year sentence suspended after a drug related conviction.
Judge Martin Nolan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court was told Tallaght man Kenneth O’Farrell (33) broke a filter light to turn right off a national road in Tallaght, west Dublin, last June.
He told gardai the lights were with him at the time, adding cyclist Marcin Maciejewski was speeding and “came out of nowhere”.
His account was contradicted by a woman driving the car behind O’Farrell as he turned at the N81 Tallaght bypass at the junction with the Fortunestown Road on June 15th, 2014.
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She said the light was not with O’Farrell but when a gap appeared in the oncoming traffic he moved forward and right and hit Mr Maciejewski coming towards him.
She said she could clearly see Mr Maciejewski despite being behind O’Farrell’s vehicle.
The woman later approached gardai and gave a statement, which contradicted O’Farrell’s claims the lights were in his favour.
CCTV footage recorded in the area was examined and supported the witness’s version of what happened.
When the impact occurred the witness ran to the injured man’s aid.
And as she held a tracksuit to his head to stem the bleeding, she said she could feel Mr Maciejewski’s skull moving in her hand.
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He was taken from the scene by ambulance and needed 60 stitches and also underwent surgery.
As well as his head injuries, he sustained two broken hands, a dislocated shoulder and required further stitching to wounds on his back and elbow.
He was thrown onto O’Farrell’s windscreen but had no recollection of the collision. He could recall cycling to work that morning and then walking up in hospital with his wife and brother-in-law by his bedside.
O’Farrell, Dunomore Ave, Tallaght, pleaded guilty to the charge of dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm.
The father of one has four previous convictions, including one drug related offence for which he received a suspended sentence of two years.
His lawyer Nicola Cox BL asked Judge Nolan to accept the collision was an accident. She said O’Farrell was not speeding and had not been drinking.
Judge Nolan said it was “puzzling to say the least” that O’Farrell did not see the cyclist.
He accepted drink and speed were not a factor, saying O’Farrell “was guilty of inattention and failure to concentrate”.
He imposed a sentence of two years but suspended it, meaning O’Farrell walked free from court. He was also suspended from driving for four years.
When O’Farrell was interviewed a second time after giving an initial statement and asked if he wanted to add to it, he told gardai: “Did you think I wanted to kill the bloke? He was speeding”.
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