Hit-and-run driver took drugs and drank 15 pints

A van driver smoked cannabis, snorted cocaine, and drank at least 15 pints of beer, before knocking down and killing a young Frenchman in Cork city and then going on the run.

The fatal incident occurred four years ago this weekend. It was not until last July that detectives got an anonymous tip-off that the accused was working on a building site in London.

The family of the French man who lost his life in Cork because of the dangerous driving of Martin Linehan, aged 36, visited the city yesterday to hear the Coachford father of three plead guilty to multiple counts, principally one of dangerous driving causing the death of their loved one.