Garda probe to discover why man ‘jumped in front of car’

GARDAÍ are trying to establish why a Polish man in his 20s apparently ‘jumped out’ in front of a car driven by a young woman.

The woman was driving along the Cork-Midleton road (N25), at around 2.30am yesterday. She was just passing the Amgen factory site near Carrigtwohill, when the tragedy occurred.

The woman was so shocked that she left the scene and drove immediately to Midleton garda station to report the accident.

Gardaí found the man dead on the road and cordoned off the area for several hours while a technical examination was carried out. He had suffered serious head injuries.

Supt Pat Sheahan said that gardaí had established that the dead man had been staying with friends at the nearby Fota Rock estate and left their house shortly before 1am.

Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster carried out a post mortem on the body at Cork University Hospital yesterday and gardaí are awaiting the results of a number of tests, including blood alcohol readings.

Supt Sheahan said that gardaí would not be releasing the man’s name until all of his relatives had been informed.

“We are appealing for anybody who drove along the N25 towards Midleton between 2am and 3am yesterday to contact Cobh gardaí at [phone],” said Supt Sheahan.

Gardaí were expected to mount a roadblock in the area early this morning in the hope of meeting motorists who may have been on the road when the accident occurred.

Meanwhile, a 58-year-old Mitchelstown man lost his life in another accident.

Tom Casey, who was employed for the past 15 years as a lorry driver with Henry A Crosbie Ltd in Dublin, was crushed to death last Monday when he was delivering a consignment of plastic to Dublin Port.

While unloading, the plastic fell on him. He was rushed to St Vincent’s Hospital but died a short time later. The remains of the father-of-two will be removed from O’Brien’s Funeral Home, Mitchelstown to the local parish church at 8 o’clock tonight. He will be buried in the adjoining cemetery following requiem mass at noon on Saturday.