Dying man found with knife in chest after chase

A DYING man was found with a knife plunged in his chest after a garda pursuit in Limerick at the weekend.

Gardaí yesterday ruled out foul play in the tragic incident which followed a late-night road crash in the city.

The circumstances surrounding Saturday night’s crash and fatal stabbing were peculiar, gardaí said.

The 40-year-old man died shortly after being removed to the city’s Mid-Western Regional Hospital.

The victim was the sole occupant of a car which a garda traffic unit had signalled to stop.

Gardaí were on the alert after a car had been reported driving at excess speed. The car was travelling towards the city on the main Dublin road around 11.30pm.

“The vehicle failed to stop and drove off towards the city, but the driver lost control of his car a short distance away,” said a garda spokesperson.

Gardaí said the car hit a grassy bank and crashed at the Roxboro Roundabout at Rosbrien.

“When gardaí got to the car, the driver’s door was locked and the man was found to have a stab wound to his chest,” said the spokesperson. A post-mortem, conducted yesterday by Dr Margaret Bolster, was expected to confirm the victim died from a fatal stab wound. Gardaí also suspect the driver had alcohol consumed.

Gardaí in Limerick said: “No-one else is being sought in connection with the tragic incident.”

A senior garda said: “The gardaí were trailing the vehicle when it crashed. A short time earlier, they tried to stop the car, but it sped off.

“Gardaí were at the crash scene immediately. When they approached, the driver had a knife in his chest.”

Ambulance personnel brought the driver to hospital where he died shortly after admission.

Meanwhile, two of the three motorcyclists who died in separate crashes within a 24-hour period at the weekend were named yesterday.

The body of Patrick Martin Gorman, aged 39, from Tullow Road, Carlow, was discovered at 8.30am on Saturday at Keelogue, Killishin, Co Laois. A man out for a stroll came across the accident on the main Carlow-Abbeyleix road. A second man was also found seriously injured at the scene. The pillion passenger, gardaí said, had been unable to raise the alarm due to his injuries.

Gardaí said preliminary investigations showed the motorcycle crashed into a ditch. There were no other vehicles involved. The injured passenger was taken to St Luke’s Hospital in Co Kilkenny where his condition, yesterday, remained serious.

The motorcyclist who died following a teatime collision on Friday with a tractor at Milltownpass near Kinnegad, Co Westmeath, was Raymond Andrew Moore from Knocknacarra, Galway.

The 44-year-old was pronounced dead on arrival at Mullingar General Hospital.

The family of a man in his 20s, who died in a motorbike accident at Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim, on Friday night requested the gardaí not to release his name.