Man put boulders on road at night as a prank

A judge has told a court that a 28-year-old man could have killed someone after placing boulders across a bad bend on a road leading out of Ennis in the middle of the night.

At Ennis District Court, Judge Patrick Durcan said that Eoin Kerin of Beechpark, Ennis, that placing the boulders across the Kilmaley Road outside Ennis “was a terrible thing to do”.

Insp Tom Kennedy said that musician Shay O’Callaghan crashed into the boulders at around 3am on Nov 23, 2011, causing widespread damage to the under carriage of his car. The damage cost €1,130 to repair.

Mr Kerin pleaded guilty to two counts of intentionally placing an obstruction across the Kilmaley Road being aware that it might cause injury to a person. He also pleaded guilty to the criminal damage of Mr O’Callaghan’s car.

Insp Kennedy said that minutes after gardaí had cleared the road of the boulders, they received a call to say they had been placed back on the road.

Insp Kennedy said Mr Kerin told gardaí he had been drinking at his home and placed the boulders on the road for a prank.

He said: “What Mr Kerin did was extremely dangerous. It was all great craic for him until the accident happened and somebody could have been killed — there is no doubt about it.” He added: “What is worrying is that Mr Kerin put the boulders back on the road.”

Solicitor for Mr Kerin, Tara Godfrey said he had used up his savings to pay compensation and was a man who had no previous convictions.

Judge Durcan convicted Mr Kerin and imposed a fine of €500.