A truck driver who hit Gerry Murray, a popular motorcycle marshal on the Irish cycling scene, while he was out for a spin has been jailed for 10 months.
Seamus Hanrahan (53), Kilmore, Granagh, Co Limerick, entered a guilty plea in January when he appeared before Limerick Circuit Criminal Court.
Hanrahan has previous convictions, including for careless driving; hit and run, failing to remain at the scene of a collision; drunk driving; failure to display a current vehicle licence, and driving an untaxed vehicle.
At the sentencing hearing yesterday, Judge Colin Daly said Mr Murray would "most likely have been killed" if he hadn’t been wearing his helmet. As well as jailing Hanrahan for 10 months, he also banned him from driving for three years.
Mr Murray, whose son is Irish rugby international Conor Murray, sustained a “severe traumatic brain injury”, a fractured skull, and bleeds to his brain. He was hit by Hanrahan in his truck, after Hanrahan drove through a stop sign. The victim spent two months in hospital, including a period in an induced coma.
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When Mr Murray woke up from the induced coma, he spent the next five weeks learning to walk and do the other basic tasks in life. He has been left with tinnitus and also lost the hearing in his left ear.
He also missed his son's wedding abroad, which was a big occasion for the family, and said his life "has completely changed" since the crash. While he was working at getting back to his pre-crash lifestyle, he said he faced rehab for an indefinite period.
Hanrahan pleaded guilty to careless driving causing serious bodily harm to Mr Murray two years ago. The crash took place at Attyflin, Patrickswell, while Hanrahan was driving a DAF tractor unit with a tanker semi-trailer.
Mr Murray was cycling on his own on February 7th, 2023, when the crash took place. The victim was taken by ambulance from the crash scene on the N20 to University Hospital Limerick. However, he was then transferred to Cork University Hospital for specialist treatment due to serious head injuries.
In the months after the crash, his son gave an update on his condition – in an interview on the sports pages of the Irish Independent – saying he was making a good recovery. He also revealed while his father sustained a head injury, he suffered no broken bones.
He was put in an induced coma to facilitate recovery from the head injury but came out of that coma after about a week.
