Limerick criminal dies in road traffic incident

A well-known Limerick criminal died in a car crash in the early hours of this morning, gardaí have said.

Christopher “Gunna” Curtin (22) of Salvia Court, Southill, was killed when a car in which he was a passenger, went into a ditch.

The single vehicle collision happened on the R511, Fedamore to Limerick Road at Carnane, Co Limerick, shortly after 2am om Tuesday.

Gardaí said Curtin, who had about 40 previous convictions, including burglary and car theft, “suffered fatal injuries when the car he was travelling in as passenger left the road and struck a ditch”.

“He was pronounced dead at scene. His body was taken to University Hospital Limerick. A postmortem is to be arranged,” said gardaí.

The driver of the car, a woman in her 20s, suffered minor injuries.

“Gardaí­ at Roxboro Road appealed for witnesses.

Burglary

In February 2012, while he was the subject of a Garda manhunt after escaping from custody, Curtin walked into Limerick circuit courtroom wearing sunglasses, to attend his sentencing hearing for burglary at the home of a prominent solicitor.

He was then aged 18 and had escaped from custody two days previously as he was being brought to prison on remand.

Curtin was subsequently jailed for three years, with the final year suspended, after he pleaded guilty to burglary at the home of solicitor Turlough Herbert, a former Limerick hurler.

Curtin was one of three men who broke into Mr Herbert’s home at the rear of Herbert’s pub, at Sallymount, Castleconnell, on May 5th, 2011. Mr Herbert had confronted the three burglars and was bitten by one of them, not Curtin.

The court was told that two of the three men, but not Curtin, were armed with a knife and a scissors.

The gang fled in Mr Herbert’s jeep after terrorising him and his sister.

A probation report at the time said Curtin was of a “high risk of reoffending”.

He was later jailed for stealing a car after been pursued by gardaí along the Limerick Tunnel, reaching speeds of 180km/h in June 2013.