Driver who ran over club official walks free

A HIT-AND-RUN driver involved in a crash resulting in the death of a senior official of a Cork rugby club has walked free from a Canadian court.

Val Murphy, 68, who was Dolphin RFC’s honorary treasurer, died in hospital 10 days after he was hit by a car in June 2003.

The club’s secretary, Michael O’Riordan, was injured but made a full recovery and was able to return home a few days later

Both Mr O’Riordan and Mr Murphy had been in Montreal for a rugby tournament. The trip was arranged to mark Dolphin’s centenary.

They were heading back to their hotel from McKibbon’s Pub on Bishop Street at 3.30am when they were hit by Karim Tagemouati’s BMW.

Members of the Montreal Irish Rugby Football Club women’s division witnessed the accident and called emergency services.

Detectives later found the offending car parked in a basement car park near an apartment block on St Mathieu Street. The BMW had been covered with a blanket to conceal the damage caused when it hit the two Cork men.

Police then charged Tagemouati, a 21-year-old Moroccan student, with causing Mr Murphy’s death.

At the time of the accident Tagemouati had three passengers in the car. They were all questioned, but were released without charge.

However, Tagemouati walked free from a Canadian court earlier this week having been acquitted of the charge.

The court in Montreal accepted that Tagemouati was in a state of panic when he fled the scene and that he was “unable to organise his thoughts to make a rational decision”.

Tagemouati drove off from the scene leaving both men injured on the ground. He later gave himself up after talking to his father in Morocco.

Mr Murphy underwent emergency surgery after the accident. His wife, Renee, and other members of the family flew out to Montreal and maintained a bedside vigil until he died.