Jogger killed by driver ‘who had absolutely no respect for the law’
A JURY has recommended the nationwide deployment of devices for gardaí to make roadside checks on motorists.
It was made at the inquest into the death of a 28-year-old jogger killed by a disqualified driver in a hit-and-run crash.
Karl Robertson, of Castlekevin Road, Kilmore West, Dublin, was struck by a vehicle at Hazelwood Park, Artane, on March 8, 2017.
He was discovered at the scene by a passing cyclist and died the next day in hospital.
His family said Karl was a “totally innocent victim killed by a driver who had absolutely no respect for the law”.
“The person who killed Karl had three separate driving bans at the time of the collision, and he continued to drive ignoring each ban. We believe that the inability of gardaí to identify this disqualified driver, prior to the collision, lead directly to Karl’s death,” the family said in a statement after the inquest at Dublin Coroner’s Court.
In their statement, the family called on the Justice Minister and Transport Minister to extend the hand-held devices, which formed part of a pilot project in Limerick, to all members of the traffic corps.
Described as “a loving, kind, helpful, caring, gentle soul,” relatives said Karl enjoyed keeping fit.
“He was adored by his mother and father. He made them very proud by being the beautiful person he was. The void he left in everybody’s lives is indescribable,” his cousin Aisling Reid said.
Stephen Morris said he was driving up Hazelwood Park at 9.50pm when he saw a shoe on the road, then a wing mirror and then a body. Paramedic Brian Morrisey was off-duty when he came upon the scene to find the man critically injured.
“There was a young man who said he’d seen a white van driving at speed down Hazelwood Park, and he hit Karl but did not stop,” Mr Morrisey told the court.
Van driver Patrick Morgan said the collision happened so fast he had no chance to brake.
He presented voluntarily at Coolock station the day after the incident.
“I panicked. I drove around the corner and set the car alight,” he said in his statement to gardaí.
Morgan was sentenced to five years in prison and disqualified for 10 years last May after he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death.
Forensic Collision Investigator Sergeant Paul Kearney said Mr Robertson was out running and may have had earphones in.
A post-mortem report was carried out by Assistant State Pathologist Dr Linda Mulligan.
The cause of death was multiple traumatic injuries due to a road traffic collision. The jury returned a verdict of death in accordance with the findings of the criminal trial, dangerous driving causing death.