Man who usually drives the 'small roads' caused crash in panic on busy Limerick road

AN ELDERLY man has been convicted in Limerick District Court of colliding with a garda car in a hit and run incident outside the city.

Pat Mollaghan, 84, of St Mel’s Road, Townparks, county Longford, was travelling to a medical appointment on April 10, 2025.

On the Castletroy Roundabout, Mr Mollaghan hit the side of a garda vehicle with his Toyota Corolla.

Prosecuting Inspector Liam Wallace said in garda evidence, that there was “minimal damage” done to the garda car.

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The man - who pleaded guilty - did not appear in court due to a medical issue.

Taking into account the facts of the case, Judge Patricia Harney said: “I just have concerns”.

Solicitor Darach McCarthy said in mitigation that the longest Mr Mollaghan “has ever driven before was only a couple of kilometers”, and “on this day he was driving hundreds” of kilometres.

Mr McCarthy said his client “usually uses the smaller roads”, but “all of a sudden he found himself on the motorway”, and in the lead up to the collision, Mr Mollaghan was “dehydrated” and he panicked.

The solicitor further added that the man’s family was worried for him on the date in question.

Mr McCarthy said that his client has no previous convictions.

He further said that the man is “terribly sorry”.

The solicitor detailed that Mr Mollaghan is a small land-owner, and that the man had not been in trouble with the law before the incident.

“He's upset by all of this, judge”, Mr McCarthy pointed out.

The judge convicted the man of careless driving and the hit and run, and fined him a total of €900, giving him three months to pay the penalty.

-Funded by the Court Reporting Scheme