Shane Fitzgerald, above, was drunk driving when he hit Paud O'Leary, who was training for the Ring of Kerry Sportive, so hard his remains were driven through a hedge.
A 23-year-old drunk driver who killed a cyclist training for the Ring of Kerry Sportive and then fled to Australia was jailed today but will be free in less than four years.
Shane Fitzgerald (23), from Upper Knockeen, Knockduff, Meelin, Newmarket, Co Cork, was convicted of dangerous driving causing the death of Paud O’Leary.
The 42-year-old father of four died when he was hit by a vehicle while on a training spin at Scrahanfadda, Gneeveguilla, Co Kerry, almost three years ago.
The dead man's children are Ross (7), Paudie (9) Antoinette (11) and Shannon (14). Antoinette is special needs. Mr O'Leary is also survived by his widow Margaret.
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Today Judge Thomas E O’Donnell at the Circuit Criminal Court in Tralee, Co Kerry, imposed a sentence of 6½ years on Fitzgerald.
However, he suspended 18 months of the term meaning Fitzgerald, who was 20-years-old at the time of the crime, was effectively jailed for five years.
He has an automatic entitlement to remission, or time off for good behaviour, of 20 per cent off his sentence meaning he will spend four years behind bars.
The judge also backdated the sentence to March, when Fitzgerald was convicted; a move that reduces the sentence of four years by one month.
That leaves a term of three years and 11 months to serve from today’s date out of the 6½ years imposed.
Paud O’Leary with his wife Margaret and his children Shannon, Antoinette, Paudie and Ross.
Fitzgerald drank almost all night before getting into his Landcruiser and killing Mr O’Leary, who had left home at dawn to train in the early hours.
He was killed less than 2km from his house as his wife and four young children slept.
The convicted man then left Mr O’Leary in a field; the impact of the collision having driven him through the ditch by the side of the road.
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And as the dead man’s family searched for him before finding his body at lunchtime that day, Fitzgerald made plans to travel to England the following day and then went to Australia within weeks.
He was eventually arrested in the UK as he was about to board a flight back to Australia following a brief trip to England in February of last year.
He intended to return to his job in the mining industry in Australia but an Irish person familiar with the case saw him in Cambridge and alerted the authorities.
Fitzgerald was arrested at Heathrow Airport in London the following day trying to catch his Australia-bound flight.
He never admitted killing Mr O'Leary in the hit and run and pleaded not guilty in court.
He also disposed of the vehicle he was driving at the time of the collision and never told the Garda where it was. The car still remains unaccounted for.
Father of four Paudie O’Leary was killed while out training on his bike near his Kerry home in July 2012.
Mr O’Leary’s death occurred on the morning of July 1st, 2012. He was a farmer and school caretaker and trained children in a local GAA club.
Both he and his bike were thrown a considerable distance by Fitzgerald's car, which gardai believe was on the wrong side of the road.
The 15-day trial was told Fitzgerald drove a grey Landcruiser from Newmarket to Killarney on June 30th, 2012, and parked in the train station car park.
CCTV showed Fitzgerald going to two pubs before continuing to socialise in a hotel bar until 4.30am.
Fitzgerald then got into his car, drove it out of the car park at 5am and around 15 minutes later met Mr O’Leary on the road at the spot where his remains were found at 1.15pm that day.
Fitzgerald’s vehicle was on the wrong side of the road and that after it hit Mr O’Leary and fatally drove him through a hedge, the car did not stop nor remain at the scene.
Tests carried out on Mr O'Leary's bike showed it had been hit by a Landcruiser and that paint taken from the victim’s remains was also linked to the debris at the scene.
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