Man on night out fell asleep on rail tracks

A trainee stonemason on a night out with friends fell asleep on a railway track late at night, causing a train driver to jam on the emergency brakes in a bid to avoid him, a court has heard.

Eric Rogan (22) had taken a wrong bus and thought the quickest way to get home was to walk along the railway tracks at Rush-Lusk railway station in north Co Dublin, Balbriggan District Court was told. Rogan was spotted asleep on the tracks at 12.20am by the train driver who applied the emergency brakes.

Rogan, a trainee stonemason, St Catherine’s Avenue, Rush, pleaded guilty to trespassing on Iarnród Éireann’s rail line on October 9th last.

Judge Dermot Dempsey applied the Probation Act after Rogan made a donation of €150 to the Samaritans.

Garda Sgt Tony Tighe said: “The driver of the train travelling northbound was vigilant and spotted the defendant in time,” adding that the situation could have been “tragic”. Rogan, who was highly intoxicated at the time, had no previous convictions.

At a previous sitting of the court, Judge Patricia McNamara had remarked that Rogan “in a sense is lucky to be in court today”.