Wife of consultant psychiatrist killed in Cork hit-and-run settles High Court case

High Court Reporters

A High Court personal injury action brought by the wife of a renowned consultant psychiatrist who died after he was hit by a taxi while walking home from a Christmas party has been settled, following what a judge described as a "very, very sad" case.

Married father-of-three Dr Martin Lawlor (49) died from injuries sustained after the collision near Ballycurreen, Kinsale Road, near Cork Airport on December 15th, 2018.

His wife, Dr Helen Murphy Lawlor, took the case against taxi driver Denis McSweeney of Pouladuff Rd, Cork City.

On Thursday, the court ordered the agreed settlement and the striking out of the case and substituted Axa Insurance in place of pensioner Mr McSweeney, who passed away in November of last year.

Ms Justice Emily Egan made an order for the plaintiff's costs with damages to be agreed in what she said was a "very, very sad case" and offered her condolences to Dr Lawlor's family.

Dr Murphy Lawlor, with an address listed as Stalybridge, Cheshire, UK, was represented by Dr John F O'Mahony SC, James O'Mahony SC, and Ray Motherway BL, instructed by Matthew J Nagle & Co.

Dr O'Mahony thanked the judge for her "patience and indulgence" in the case and said he was pleased to announce the matter settled and that it could be struck out.

Ms Justice Egan said she was "enormously pleased" to hear of the case's resolution.

Eamon Marray SC, for the defence, expressed his condolences to Mr Lawlor's family.

Dr Murphy Lawlor had alleged that Mr McSweeney collided with Dr Lawlor, was "aware" of doing so and then "unjustifiably, recklessly and in full knowledge of the collision, deliberately and callously left the scene without compassion, concern or regard for the condition of Dr Lawlor".

McSweeney was sentenced to four years' imprisonment at Cork Circuit Criminal Court in 2021 for the hit-and-run, but had that halved on appeal later that year.

Mr McSweeney had pleaded guilty to failing to stop his vehicle after an incident, failing to keep his vehicle at the scene of an accident, failing to report a traffic incident to gardaí and failing to give appropriate information to gardaí.

In High Court papers, Mr McSweeney, who was 75 at the time of his May 2021 appeal, had admitted that there had been a collision between his vehicle and Dr Lawlor, who was a pedestrian on the public road at Ballycurreen on December 15th, 2018.

He admitted that he had failed to stop after the collision and that the fatal injuries to Dr Lawlor were a result of the collision.

However, Mr McSweeney had denied that the collision was caused by negligence, breach of duty or statutory duty, as alleged.

Mr Lawlor, a father of three who was a native of Tralee, Co Kerry, lived in Manchester but travelled to Ireland for work.

Dr Murphy Lawlor said that her husband was at the peak of his powers professionally at the time of his death, working with the HSE and Nua Healthcare and was "renowned and respected" for his work.

When sentencing Mr McSweeney, who had no previous convictions, at Cork Circuit Criminal Court, Judge Sean Ó Donnabháin described Dr Lawlor as a man of " considerable compassion" and an "exemplar of his profession".

Judge Ó Donnabháin said that he did not accept the explanation offered by Mr McSweeney that he had panicked and attributed his actions to “callousness”.