A TRUCK DRIVER, who drove through a stop-sign junction, seriously injuring Ireland rugby star Conor Murray’s father, Gerry Murray, was previously convicted of drink driving, hit and run, and careless driving, a court heard. 

Murray, (70), was cycling home around 3pm, when the truck driver, Seamus Hanrahan, who was pulling a slurry tanker, struck him, resulting in the cyclist sustaining a significant brain injury. 

Murray, married to former Irish international squash player, Barbara Murray, had to re-learn how to walk and talk properly, through a grueling regime of medical therapies, Limerick Circuit Criminal Court heard. 

Hanrahan, (53), Kilmore, Granagh, Co Limerick, pleaded guilty to one count of careless driving causing serious bodily harm to Mr Murray, on February 7, 2023. 

Prosecuting barrister, Lily Buckley BL, told Hanrahan’s sentencing hearing, that the married father of three from a well-known pig-farming family, was traveling within the speed limit at approximately 8-10km/h, along a slip road to the N20 on the day. 

Buckley said Hanrahan “didn’t stop when he should have” at the junction, despite road markings and a red ‘STOP’ sign indicating road users must stop before moving out onto the main road. 

Buckley described as a “crucial independent witness” taxi driver, Jim Lynch, who told gardai at the scene that Hanrahan didn’t stop at the junction. 

Buckley said Lynch told gardai he saw Murray’s bike being “thrown out onto the road, that he was not talking, he was just lying on the side of the road”. 

Hanrahan, who passed a Garda roadside breathalyser test for alcohol and drugs, remained at the scene and put his coat over Murray, the court heard.

He told gardai he stopped at the junction before looking left and right, and that, when he did not see anyone coming, he drove out onto the main road. 

He told gardai he “heard a bang”, parked up his rig on the side of the road, and discovered Murray lying on the ground. 

Buckley argued that Hanrahan’s statement about him looking left and right “did not appear” to tally with Lynch’s Garda statement. 

Hospital

Murray was treated at the scene by paramedics and rushed by ambulance to University Hospital Limerick (UHL) where doctors diagnosed him with a “severe traumatic brain injury”, a fractured skull, and bleeds to his brain. 

His condition deteriorated at UHL and he was transferred to Cork University Hospital (CUH), put into a medically induced coma, and monitored in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit for seven days. 

In total, Mr Murray spent six weeks at CUH and a further ten days at St Camillus’ Hospital, Limerick undergoing occupational therapy as well as speech and language therapy. 

Ms Buckley said Mr Murray “lost hearing in his left ear” and suffers tinnitus in his right ear, as a result of the collision. He also attends a psychologist to help him deal with anxiety and depression as a result of his ordeal. 

She added that Murray, who was present in court, was wearing a helmet at the time of the collision, which was “extensively damaged”. 

In a victim impact statement read out in court, Gerry Murray said the first he knew of the collision was when he woke out of his coma in hospital two and half weeks afterwards. 

“The next five weeks were spent learning to walk and doing all the basic tasks in life. I have constant tinnitus and have lost my hearing in my left ear,” he said. 

Mr Murray said he “missed” his son’s wedding abroad because doctors advised him “not to fly because of the fractures to my skull, so I missed what was a major family event”. 

Life for me has completely changed and I have been trying hard to get back to pre-accident days, but there is a long (road) ahead as I am still having rehab for an indefinite of time.

He thanked his family, paramedics, staff at UHL, CUH and St Camillus’ Hospital “where the care and support I got was exceptional”. 

Convictions

The court heard Hanrahan had convictions for road traffic matters, including an offence of dangerous driving reduced to careless driving; hit and run, failing to remain at the scene of a collision; drunk driving; failure to display a current vehicle licence, and driving an untaxed vehicle. 

The maximum sentence available to the court is one of two years in prison and or a €10,000 fine or both. The court can also impose a driving ban. 

Hanrahan’s defence barrister, Amy Nix BL, asked the court to consider in mitigation that he has family responsibilities that require him to be able to drive; that he is an “upstanding hard working member of his local community”. 

“He is carrying the guilt with him everywhere, he wishes he could wind back the clock and prevent Mr Murray’s injuries. He has held up his hands, he wishes to apologise publicly to Mr Murray.” 

“It was a momentary lapse of concentration, which had devastating consequences. Every time he closes his eyes, he sees Mr Murray lying on the ground,” added Nix. 

Judge Colin Daly said he had “much to consider” and adjourned sentencing to May 2. Hanrahan, who was supported in court by his wife and a brother, was remanded on bail.