Man jailed for 18 months for dangerous driving causing death of friend

RTÉ News​

16-05-2025

A 22-year-old man has been jailed for 18 months, after he admitted dangerous driving causing the death of a college friend when they were on a night out together in Co Tipperary in March 2023.
The Circuit Criminal Court in Nenagh heard that Sean Fitzpatrick of Kilpurcell, Ballybrophy, Portlaoise, Co Laois, had driven for more than a kilometre with Adam Kirwan hanging out the driver's door.
Mr Kirwan was standing on the door frame, with one hand on the roof of the car and the other on the open driver's door.
He died when the car driven by Fitzpatrick hit a kerb after he misjudged a corner, less than 50 metres from where they had planned to stay that night in Thurles.
Both were studying to become teachers and were students at Mary Immaculate College in Thurles.
Mr Kirwan was also a former Laois minor and under-20 hurler.
Fitzpatrick admitted charges of dangerous driving causing death, driving with excess alcohol in his system and driving without insurance.
Both men had been on a night out with a third college friend when they decided to move Mr Kirwan's car from a carpark near the square in Thurles, in case the car was clamped before they retrieved it the following day.
They drank pints of beer and Jagerbombs as they watched a match in a local pub and later attended a house party.
Fitzpatrick drove the car, because he was the one who was less intoxicated. His alcohol reading was more than twice the drink driving limit.
Mr Kirwan clung onto the roof and the open driver's door of the car as he stood on the ledge of the driver's door for the 1.3km journey from the centre of Thurles to the house where they were staying.
The third young man, who sat in the back of the car, recorded parts of the journey on the camera on his mobile phone.
The footage was played in court at the sentencing hearing, along with CCTV footage gathered by investigating gardaí, under Sergeant Lorraine Bentley of Thurles Garda Station.
Mr Kirwan suffered severe brain injuries when the car hit a kerb and ended up on a green area at College Green, Monakeeba, in Thurles, the estate where they were staying the night on 2 March 2023.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mr Kirwan's only sister Marie said her family were living a life sentence since that day.
"My parents never got to hold their son in his hour of need or to say goodbye - nobody did," she said.
Judge Catherine Staines said Mr Kirwan's death was what resulted when people mixed drinking with dangerous driving. She said it was highly reckless.
She acknowledged the significant mitigating factors in this case - that Sean Fitzpatrick had no previous convictions and that he had abandoned his teacher training studies - but she said she had to mark the devastating consequences of what had happened.
She sentenced Fitzpatrick to three years in jail, with the final 18 months of that suspended.