Criminal proceedings started over fatal hit-and-run in north Dublin last year, inquest hears

Seán McCárthaigh

An inquest into the death of a male pedestrian killed in a hit-and-run incident in north Dublin last year has been put on hold after gardaí revealed an individual is to face criminal prosecution over the fatal collision.

Michael “Mikey” Farrelly, 40, sustained traumatic injuries when he was struck by a stolen vehicle on Coast Road, Baldoyle, at around 1am on July 17th, 2024.

The driver of the vehicle and his passenger, who are suspected of being members of the so-called “Lucky Dip” criminal gang, a loose network of around 60 teenagers based in Ballyfermot, Inchicore and Blanchardstown who specialise in car theft, failed to remain at the scene.

Inspector Fearghal O’Toole told a sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Monday that, providing an update on the case, further progress has been made since the last sitting of the inquest in April.

Insp O’Toole applied for an adjournment of the hearing of the full inquest under Section 25 (2) of the Coroners Act after informing Coroner Clare Keane that the DPP had given a direction in the case and criminal proceedings have commenced.

No details of any charges were revealed during the brief hearing.

The coroner granted the application and adjourned the inquest until a date to be fixed after the conclusion of related criminal proceedings.

At the opening of the inquest into Mr Farrelly’s death six months ago, Dr Keane revealed that the deceased had to be identified through DNA profiling due to the extent of his injuries.

A blood sample from the victim’s body was matched with a DNA sample taken from his father, Philip Farrelly, which confirmed they were biologically related.

A postmortem on the body of the deceased attributed the cause of death to “polytrauma.”

Mr Farrelly was returning to his home in Sutton after a night out with his family when he was struck by the stolen vehicle around 50 metres from the entrance to the housing estate where he lived.

The victim, who was pronounced dead at the scene, had been attending Riverdance at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin with relatives, after which they had gone for some drinks in a local pub near his home.

The Hyundai Kona involved in the fatal crash had been stolen the previous evening from outside a house in Malahide.

It was subsequently involved in an “interaction” with gardaí after it failed to stop while driving in an erratic fashion shortly before the hit-and-run incident.

Mr Farrelly’s death featured in a special report on RTÉ’s Prime Time last April in which his brother, Conor, claimed the justice system was failing to respond to the wave of car thefts caused by a network of teenage joyriders.

“At least one of the people in the car was actually on bail and under curfew at the time the accident happened. He shouldn't have been out. He should have been at home,” said Conor.

He added: “It makes you think that we have no proper solution to deal with people who can go out and steal a car, get arrested, go before the courts, be bailed, be put on curfew. And then they're brought home, they walk in the front door, and then they walk straight out the back door, and they do it again that night.”

A number of teenagers, including the suspected ringleader of the “Lucky Dip” criminal gang, were arrested over the fatal crash but later released without charge.

At Mr Farrelly’s funeral mass, mourners heard he had fulfilled a lifetime dream by recording an album of his own music shortly before his death.