‘Full-time criminal’ jailed after hit-and-run at pitch and putt course

A “full-time professional criminal” who was involved in a hit-and-run incident in which an elderly pensioner lost his leg has been jailed for eight years.

Michael Sheehan (27), of Cliona Park, Moyross, Limerick, had been granted bail - despite Garda objections - just three days before he drove into three pensioners outside Parteen Pitch and Putt course in Co Clare on September 25th, 2014.

One of the pensioners, Eric Ryan (80), a former inter-county hurler for Limerick, was severely injured after he was pinned to the ground by Sheehan’s car.

Mr Ryan had to have his left leg amputated from below the knee as a result of the incident.

His friend Liam Barry (78), a retired Garda, also suffered a number of injuries in the incident, including a brain haemorrhage and damage to his kidney and liver. He has since made a full recovery.

The third victim, the late Dermot O’Brien, suffered minor injuries. Mr O’Brien was also in his seventies but is now deceased,

Limerick Circuit Court heard how the three pensioners were extremely active and enjoyed a game of pitch and putt at least once a week.

When jailing Sheehan on Thursday, Judge Tom O’Donnell said he had to take into account the “deeply harrowing” victim impact statement from Mr Ryan and the catastrophic injuries he suffered.

In his victim impact statement, Mr Ryan described how he has gone from being an independent man who acted as carer for his wife to a “completely dependent person who can barely manage the simple everyday things in life”.

Michael Sheehan, who has more than 50 previous convictions, said he had drunk eight bottles of cider and a naggin of vodka in the hours before he crashed into the pensioners.

Pursued by gardaí

Sheehan was being pursued by gardaí at the time of the incident, in connection with a series of house burglaries in nearby Clonlara.

At the sentencing hearing, the judge noted how Sheehan had "jumped" over Mr Ryan's body as he fled the scene on foot, after the pensioner had been pinned to the ground by his Hyundai Accent car.

The judge jailed Sheehan for five years for dangerous driving causing serious injury to Eric Ryan and Liam Barry at Parteen on September 25th, 2014.

Sheehan pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary at Aherina, Kilmore, Co Clare, and Doonass, Co Clare.

He also pleaded guilty to refusing to provide a sample of blood or urine to gardaí, for which he received a 12-month concurrent sentence, and to being a passenger in a stolen tractor.

The judge ordered that the five-year jail sentence be served consecutive to a three-year prison term that he imposed on Sheehan for the Aherina incident.

Judge Tom O’Donnell said that Sheehan was “effectively a full-time professional criminal”, noting his previous convictions.

He said the burglaries were planned and premeditated, and had had terrible consequences in Parteen.

The judge said that it was important to highlight that it was not the court’s job to seek retribution and that any sentence must be balanced and proportionate, noting Sheehan’s guilty plea, and his efforts to get clean from drugs.

“I am extremely conscious of the tragedy of the offence and acutely aware no matter what sentence is imposed it is not going to turn back the clock, nor is it going to alleviate the pain of the injury suffered by the injured party [Eric Ryan] and the difficulties that he and his family have had to endure,” the judge said.