A man and his wife were passengers in a hackney cab which struck his father and brother, killing his father, an inquest at Dublin City Coroners Court heard yesterday. Mr Richard O'Carroll (69), of Plunkett Drive, Finglas, was pronounced dead with multiple injuries at the Mater Hospital last 24th July.
Mr Damien O'Carroll said there was a family gathering in his house last July 23rd and later he and his wife joined his father and brother, Hilary, in a local pub for a few drinks. He and his wife left the pub at 12.10 a.m., got a takeaway meal and then took a hackney cab to their home. A short distance down the road he saw two people crossing and shouted to the driver. He knew it was his father and brother. The accident happened on a well-lit main road.
Garda Gail Smith said she was in an unmarked patrol car on Liam Mellows Road when it was overtaken by a hackney cab. She could see two people had stepped on to the road and they were hit by the cab. There was a pedestrian crossing a short distance from where the two men attempted to cross the road.
At the scene she believed Mr Richard O'Carroll was dead. His son, Mr Hilary O'Carroll, was sitting up and talking to his brother. The cab driver, Mr Richard Hayden, said he overtook the unmarked patrol car and had a green light ahead of him. He did not see the two men crossing the road. It all happened in a blur. He stopped as quickly as possible.
A pathologist, Dr James Kirrane, who carried out the post-mortem examination, said Mr O'Carroll died of multiple injuries, including a fracture to the base of the skull. The coroner, Dr Brian Farrell, said Mr O'Carroll would have been rendered unconscious immediately and had not suffered. The jury returned a verdict of accidental death.