A disqualified motorist who killed a pedestrian in a hit-and-run while high on drugs has been sentenced to seven years in prison with the final six months suspended and given a 15-year road ban.
Danny Connors (30) ran a red light and struck the victim, James Forde (56), who was walking across a pedestrian crossing at Ennis Road, Limerick City, on November 26th 2024.
Connors, who was banned from driving at the time, left the scene without checking on Mr Forde’s condition or waiting for emergency services.
Áine Forde, a sister of the deceased, told Connors at his sentencing hearing at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court: “You left my brother to die like a dog in the road.”
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Connors pleaded guilty to one count of dangerous driving causing death, two counts of dangerous driving, driving without insurance, driving without a licence, failing to offer assistance at the scene and failing to remain at the scene.
Ms Forde said her late brother was “the absolute opposite” of Connors, with an address at Clondrinagh Halting Site, Limerick.
Connors had 120 previous convictions at the time and had consumed cannabis before getting into his car and knocking down Mr Forde at 2pm that afternoon.
In the run-up to the fatal hit-and-run, Connors had also broken a stop sign and driven on the wrong side of the road, forcing other motorists to take evasive action to avoid him.
Mr Forde had pressed the pedestrian push button at the traffic lights pedestrian crossing, and after being prompted by the “green man”, and looking both ways, he had set off across the road.
Mr Forde was halfway across the road when Connors’ car struck him at speed.
Prosecuting barrister John O’Sullivan told the court: “The collision cast Mr Forde into the air, he fell heavily on his head, he remained lifeless on the roadway.”
Footage of the fatal hit-and-run was previously played in court, showing the moment of impact.
Ms Forde told the court her brother’s “violent and untimely death” would haunt her family forever.
Looking directly at Connors sitting in the dock, Ms Forde said: “We bitterly regret that James ever crossed paths with someone like you, the absolute opposite of everything he was.”
Ms Forde said that her late brother and his nine other siblings were raised “to respect the law” by their mother, Anne (80s), and their late father Joe, who had been a garda.
Following his arrest, Connors told gardaí: “I’m heartbroken for that man and his family. He did nothing wrong and I killed him; I wish it had been me instead of him.”
The sentences, including concurrent sentences of six years for failing to offer assistance and four months for other driving offences, were backdated to November 28th, 2024, when Connors was first taken into custody, where he had remained.
