‘Your driving and your drinking killed a man’: Judge tells Limerick man found guilty by jury

A JUDGE told a Limerick man found guilty of dangerous driving causing death “you seem to be in denial about your wrongdoing, your appalling, egregious dreadful behaviour”.

Judge Simon McAleese told the accused man: “Mr O’Halloran, your driving and your drinking killed a man.”

Niall O’Halloran, aged 57, of Woodfield Drive, Newcastle West, had pleaded not guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of Arturs Birznieks and driving while intoxicated. Mr O’Halloran went on trial at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court on Monday of last week, February 23.

The seven men and five women of the jury returned unanimous verdicts after just over an hour deliberating yesterday, Thursday, March 5.

The court heard Mr O’Halloran was “steaming drunk” when he drove his car into the path of a truck on the N21, Reens East, Ardagh, County Limerick on March 18, 2022.

Prosecuting barrister Lily Buckley, instructed by State solicitor Brendan Gill, said it was the State’s case that Mr O’Halloran was “intoxicated and incapable of properly controlling his vehicle”.

Mr O’Halloran was represented by Mark Nicholas SC, appearing with barrister Kenny Kerins, instructed by solicitor Michael O’Donnell.

Ms Buckley told the jury: “You will hear that Mr O’Halloran engaged in dangerous driving and caused the death of Arturs Birznieks."

Latvian man Mr Birznieks, pictured below, who was residing in County Mayo, had been driving a lorry pulling a container load of chickens on the N21 at the time.

Mr O’Halloran was driving a Volkswagen Passat in the opposite direction, travelling towards Newcastle West.

The court heard Mr O’Halloran drove his car onto the wrong side of the road and into the path of Mr Birznieks’ lorry.

Mr Birznieks tried to take “evasive action” by steering his lorry away from Mr O’Halloran’s oncoming car to try to avoid a collision. Mr Birznieks slowed his lorry down, and “through no fault of his own” lost control after Mr O’Halloran’s car impacted with the front passenger side of the lorry damaging its steering and fuel tank.

The lorry “jack-knifed” on the road and struck a wall where Mr Birznieks, a father-of-two, died at the scene. 

The trial heard that Mr O’Halloran was probably six times over the legal limit at the time of the collision shortly before 3am on the date in question.

A blood sample taken from O’Halloran in hospital four hours after the fatal collision, had returned a certified reading of 179mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, indicating he was at that stage still more than three times the legal limit.

What the jury were not told for legal reasons, and which can now be revealed, was that Mr O’Halloran has a previous conviction for drink driving from 2011, for which he received a three-year road ban and fined €400.

Gardai told the court Mr Birznieks had “no chance” of survival. After the initial collision with Mr O’Halloran’s car, Mr Birznieks’ truck hit a wall in a follow-up collision.

The truck driver’s cab was then sandwiched by the truck’s heavy load trailer, which was torn off in the first collision and had jack-knifed into Mr Birznieks’ cab.

Mr O’Halloran’s car was sheered in half in the initial collision, and he likely survived as he was wearing a seat-belt, the court heard.

Mr O’Halloran claimed in garda interviews that Mr Birznieks’ truck had veered into his path prior to the collision. He claimed he had flashed his car lights at the lorry but that it did not change its trajectory.

Judge Simon McAleese told Mr O’Halloran: “Mr O’Halloran, your driving and your drinking killed a man.”

“Putting it politely you seem to be in denial about your wrongdoing, your appalling, egregious dreadful behaviour,” said the judge.

Judge McAleese passed on his “sympathies” to Mr Birznieks’ family and said they had lost a loved one to O’Halloran’s “drink fueled dangerous driving”.

“Mr O’Halloran’s conduct is utterly inexcusable and deplorable, and if ever there was a case worthy of a remand in custody, this is such a case,” added Judge McAleese.

The trial heard Mr O’Halloran was vague in his recollection of how much alcohol he had consumed prior to the fatal crash, and he told gardai he believed he may have had consumed one or two beer shandies, in the day leading up to the fatal collision.

In her closing speech to the jury, Ms Buckley said it was “clear” Mr O’Halloran had been “steaming drunk” and “he couldn’t see straight” at the time.

Ms Buckley said emergency services workers who attended at the scene had said they smelled alcohol off O’Halloran and that his speech was slurred.

Mr O’Halloran told investigating gardai following his arrest that he did not consider a beer shandy to be an alcohol drink.

Mr O’Halloran also told gardai the result of his alcohol blood test was “irrelevant” and had “nothing to do” with the fatal collision.

The court also heard that when investigating gardai put it to Mr O’Halloran that he had been drunk at the time of the collision, he replied: “I couldn't care less”."

When gardai put it to O’Halloran that Mr Birznieks had died, he replied to the officers: “I have enough to deal with my own injuries.”

Mr O’Halloran’s barrister, Mr Nicholas SC had argued that Mr O’Halloran had consistently maintained that it was Mr Birznieks’ truck that had veered into his path.

Following the guilty verdicts, Mr O’Halloran, who had been on bail throughout his trial, was immediately remanded in custody to Limerick Prison.

Mr O’Halloran’s sentence date will be finalised in April.