A LIMERICK BUSINESSMAN has been given a three-year prison sentence and been banned from driving for 20 years for his part in a fatal car crash last year, RTÉ reports.

Thirty-nine year-old Jason Gormley of Rathlin, Castleconnell, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of Aidan Lawless, a 52-year-old retired schoolteacher.

Limerick Circuit Court heard that the crash occurred on 4 October 2009 on the main Limerick to Tipperary road.

The court heard that Gormley’s Audi 27 SUV had collided head-on, on the wrong side of the road, with Lawless’ Ford Mondeo.

The court heard that after the accident, Gormley fled the scene. He first went home to change his clothes and the travelled to his partner’s family home in Co Clare.

At around noon the following day, he was found wandering bare-chested and barefoot by a garda near Ardnacrusha, and was immediately taken into custody.

Evidence was also given that Gormley had been drinking most of the day leading up to the accident.

Judge Carroll Moran imposed a three-year sentence and banned Gormley from driving for 20 years.