Cork hackney driver who knocked down 11-year-old girl given suspended sentence 

A hackney driver who knocked down and seriously injured an 11-year-old girl as he went through a pedestrian crossing in Carrigaline as the light turned red against him received a one-year suspended sentence and a €4,000 fine yesterday.

Judge Dermot Sheehan said that in light of the good driving history of Kieran Crowley, aged 55, of Post Office Road, Ringaskiddy, and the fact that he took an advanced driving test after the incident, he would not impose any driving disqualification.

“Even though the incident was fairly bad, he had many years of good driving and passed the advanced course of driving [afterwards],” Judge Sheehan said.

Kieran Crowley pleaded guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court to a charge of careless driving causing serious bodily harm.

The particulars of the charge were that on April 13, 2022, at Lower Kilmoney Rd, Carrigaline, Co Cork, he drove his hackney car without due care and attention, thereby causing serious bodily harm.

Garda Joseph Maher, who investigated the occurrence, said that the injured party was an 11-year-old girl.

The child was crossing the road at a pedestrian crossing at Lower Kilmoney Rd when Mr Crowley drove through the crossing at Church Hill.

He was turning right in traffic and the light turned red as he drove through, colliding with the child, resulting in injuries that included fractures to her right tibia and fibula.

The child’s parents presented a victim impact statement in which they stated that their daughter suffered from anxiety as well as her physical injuries.

Alan O’Dwyer, defence barrister, said: “It was a pure accident borne out of his negligence on the day. It should not have happened.”

Kieran Crowley apologised and said: “I hope, in time, she will make a full recovery.”