Gardaí believe car that fled Limerick road deaths scene contained drugs

GARDAÍ believe that the car carrying the two men who were knocked down and killed on the outskirts of Limerick on Wednesday contained illegal drugs and are hunting for the female driver who sped off after the fatal accident.

The first man killed after being struck by a private car driven by an off-duty garda has been named as Mark Farrell, 29, from Lotamore Drive in Mayfield. The other victim was Gavin O’Callaghan, 20, of Courtown Drive, Knocknaheeny, Cork city.

Both are understood to have been involved in a row and were grappling on the roadway of the overtaking lane of the N20 just outside Limerick city when the vehicle collided with them.

They had driven to Limerick from Cork earlier in the evening with at least one other individual and were returning to Cork at the time of the incident.

The car, which was driven by a woman who officers are still seeking to locate, had pulled into the hard shoulder near a turnoff on the N20 about three miles from the Patrickswell turnoff.

Both men had left the vehicle after an altercation.

According to unconfirmed reports they were both lying and grappling on the road when they were hit just before midnight on Wednesday by the privately owned car of a garda who had come off duty at Henry Street station in Limerick city. He was accompanied by a female officer who had also come off duty.

It is believed that the woman driving the car carrying the two deceased drove off immediately after the accident and did not return to the scene.

The deceased men, who died instantly, were both known to gardaí.

Farrell had more than 80 convictions related to the sale or supply of drugs, theft and assault at the time of his death.

They included an 18-month sentence in July 2008 for beating his 70-year-old mother with a lamp in order to gain money while on temporary release from Cork Prison for a previous offence.

The incident occurred at a time when Farrell’s mother had a barring order against her son, who had been released the day before the incident after serving 17 months of a previous two-year sentence.

It is believed Farrell had not been living at the family address for some time and had been residing in various locations in Cork over the past number of years. He was unemployed and single.

Mr O’Callaghan, 20, had also become known to officers and had developed a significant heroin problem in recent years.

The Garda Ombudsman’s office is currently investigating the incident as an officer was involved.

They are still trying to locate the car in which the two Cork men had been travelling, which is believed to be in the Cork city area.

State pathologist, Dr Marie Cassidy carried out a postmortem on both bodies at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital on Thursday.

The car driven by the off duty garda has been impounded for technical examination by the ombudsman investigators.