Postmortem on man who died in Navan expected to confirm hit and run

A 29-year-old Moldovan whose body was discovered at a roadside in Meath in the early hours of Saturday is believed to have been the victim of a hit and run.

Gardaí are awaiting the results of a postmortem due to be carried out on Monday, but it is understood the scene was consistent with another vehicle having been involved.

The man’s remains were discovered close to an electric scooter at Harmanstown on the N51 Navan to Slane Road at 2.50am on Saturday. He was due to be married in the coming weeks and lived close to where the crash occurred.

Members of the electric vehicle groups online said they believed it was the first fatality among drivers of electric motorbikes.

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Staff at Romayo’s Takeaway Restaurant on the Collon Road in Slane expressed their shock and devastation at the death of their popular colleague who had only moved to Ireland in the last three months.

“He was a very popular young man and was working here on Friday. He was only in the country a few months,” said a co-worker who did not wish to be named.

“We are all shocked and just devastated that he is gone. No-one knows what happened.”

Local businessman David Smyth, who owns the building where Romayo’s is situated, visited the scene on Saturday morning and said the deceased was hugely liked by all who met him.

“He had only been in Ireland a few months and was due to get married to his fiancée who is back in Moldova in about three weeks time,” he said.

“I visited the scene in the early hours of Saturday morning after the accident. The deceased had lights on his scooter and was wearing a helmet and a high viz jacket.”

He said the man was “only here a short time but had already made a lot of friends in the area and was well liked by all who came across him”.

“He was hugely popular among the staff in Romayos and my heart goes out to them and his loved ones at this time.”

Local Fianna Fail Cllr Wayne Harding said: “It’s an absolute tragedy and I feel particularly sorry for the staff of Romayos.

“He was a member of a team of hard-working staff in a very popular and busy takeaway.”

In a statement on Saturday morning, gardaí said they had attended the scene at about 2.50am following reports of an unconscious man lying on the road.

The man who was travelling on an electric scooter from the direction of Slane, was treated by ambulance services but was later pronounced dead, the statement said.