Man found beside upside-down burning car in Cork claimed driver had fled
The court heard that three men told gardaí that they were passengers in the car and a fourth male who was unknown to them drove the vehicle and had fled the scene on foot following the crash. File picture: Dan Linehan
A man whose car burst into flames after landing on its roof in a stream claimed to gardaí that an unknown individual was driving and fled the scene on foot, the district court was told.
Sergeant Trish O’Sullivan told Macroom District Court that a single-vehicle road traffic accident was reported on December 23, 2024. When gardaí arrived at the scene at Carrigeen, Crookstown, Co Cork the vehicle was in flames and on its roof in a stream next to the road.
Three males were with the vehicle including the registered owner Jason Harrington, aged 24 of Ardacrow, Kilbrittain, Co Cork. The three men told gardaí that they were passengers in the car and a fourth male who was unknown to them drove the vehicle and had fled the scene on foot following the crash.
The court was told that gardaí observed all three males to be highly intoxicated.
In a later interview Harrington admitted that he was in fact the driver of the vehicle at the time and the original story about the fourth male who was the driver was untrue. The court was told that Harrington had 18 previous convictions including obstruction, assault, theft and robbery.
Defence solicitor, Jack Purcell, said his client was pleading guilty to failing to provide information at the scene of an accident. He said Harrington’s convictions were mostly alcohol-related and he had referred himself for alcohol addiction treatment.
The court was told that Harrington was now working full-time as a truck driver and had been off alcohol since June. He said Harrington was putting his hands up and admitting he was wrong.
Judge Joanne Carroll sad it was “outrageous” that Harrington would invent a “cock-and-bull story about someone running off into the woods”. She said Harrington only admitted the true situation in an interview given to gardaí a month later.
She said Harrington had been wasting garda time when they had serious crimes to investigate and the only positive was that nobody was killed.
Harrington was convicted under Section 107 (4) (c) of the Road Traffic Act 1961 for failing to provide information which may lead to the identification of the person who was actually using the vehicle. He was sentenced to two months in prison suspended for 12 months.
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