A TRUCK DRIVER who drove through a stop-sign junction and seriously injured Ireland rugby star Conor Murray’s father, Gerry Murray, was today jailed for 10 months and banned from driving for three years.
Limerick Criminal Court heard today that 53-year-old Seamus Hanrahan from Kilmore, Granagh, Co Limerick, had previous convictions for drink driving, leaving the scene of a hit and run collision, and careless driving.
Gerry Murray, 70, was cycling home around 3pm when Hanrahan, behind the wheel of an articulated truck which was pulling a slurry tanker, struck him.
Judge Colin Dally said that Gerry Murray “would most likely have been killed if he hadn’t been wearing his helmet”.
The helmet had been significantly damaged in the collision, it was heard.
Murray, married to former Irish international squash player, Barbara Murray, was rushed by ambulance from the scene to University Hospital Limerick (UHL) where doctors diagnosed him with a “severe traumatic brain injury”, a fractured skull, and bleeds to his brain.
The rugby-mad dad was transferred to Cork University Hospital (CUH) and placed into a medically-induced coma.
In total, Murray spent six weeks at CUH and a further ten days at St Camillus’ Hospital, Limerick, and relearned how to walk and talk.
Murray wrote in a victim impact statement that, after he woke up from the medical coma he spent the “next five weeks learning to walk and doing all the basic tasks in life”.
“I have constant tinnitus and have lost my hearing in my left ear, and I missed my son’s wedding abroad.”
“Life for me has completely changed and I have been trying hard to get back to pre-accident days, but there is a long (road) ahead as I am still having rehab for an indefinite of time.”
Murray thanked his family, paramedics, staff at UHL, CUH and St Camillus’ Hospital “where the care and support I got was exceptional”.
Hanrahan pleaded guilty to one count of careless driving causing serious bodily harm to Murray, at the N20 Limerick to Cork road, on February 7, 2023.
On the day, the father of three from a well-known pig-farming family in Co Limerick, was driving his truck at approximately 8-10km/h on approach to a T-Junction on the N20.
Prosecuting barrister, Lily Buckley BL, said Hanrahan “didn’t stop when he should have” at the junction, despite STOP markings on the road and a red STOP sign erected at the scene.
Buckley said Jim Lynch, a local taxi driver, was a “crucial independent witness” as he had observed Hanrahan failing to stop at the junction.
Lynch told gardai he saw Mr Murray’s bike being “thrown out onto the road” and that Gerry Murray was “not talking, and lying on the side of the road”.
Hanrahan remained at the scene, put his coat over Murray to try to comfort him, and he passed a roadside breathalyser test.
Hanrahan told gardai he did stop at the junction, that he looked left and right, but he said he did not see Murray.
Buckley argued that Hanrahan’s statement “did not appear” to tally with Lynch’s statement to gardaí.
Hanrahan’s barrister, Amy Nix BL, asked the court to consider in mitigation that Hanrahan had family responsibilities which required him to be able to drive, and described him as an “upstanding hard working member of his local community”.
“He is carrying the guilt with him everywhere, he wishes he could wind back the clock and prevent Mr Murray’s injuries. He has held up his hands, he wishes to apologise publicly to Mr Murray,” said Nix.
“It was a momentary lapse of concentration, which had devastating consequences. Every time he closes his eyes, he sees Mr Murray lying on the ground,” added Nix.
Judge Daly said Hanrahan “slowed but failed to stop” at the junction, and he executed a right turn onto the road colliding with Gerry Murray “tossing him off his bike”.
The judge said Hanrahan’s driving had a “significant impact” on Murray and his family, and that Hanrahan “did not take care to ensure the road was clear”.
“There was a high degrees of carelessness and it is difficult to see how he (Hanrahan) failed to see Murray travelling on his bicycle.
The judge said it appeared that previous fines and road bans imposed on Hanrahan for driving convictions had not deterred him from driving carelessly: “It appears lessons were not learned.”
The judge considered a headline sentence of 18 months, which he reduced to 10 months, stating he was “satisfied” the threshold for a custodial sentence had been met.
Speaking outside the court afterwards, Murray said he was “pleased” with the sentence on Hanrahan.
“Cyclists are so vulnerable, and only for my helmet, as the judge said, I wouldn’t be talking to you here now.”
Murray said he “one hundred per cent” wants “to get back on his bike” and move forward with his life.
