Gardaí close to identifying people in car from which man fell to his death

Limerick gardaí say they are close to identifying the people who were in a car from which a known criminal fell to his death when travelling on the N69.

The incident happened near Kildimo village early on Saturday morning.

The blue Avensis in which the dead man, Tony O’Brien, aged 31, was a passenger, was later found burned out in the Kennedy Park area of Limerick city.

Chief Supt David Sheahan said yesterday their investigation now involved locating two known people who they believe were also in the car at the time.

Mr O’Brien, who had served a sentence for manslaughter, is believed to have fallen from the back seat after the car door opened. Chief Supt Sheahan said the circumstances of the fall had not yet been determined.

He said: “That aspect is still under investigation .”

Initial reports indicated that Mr O’Brien may have opened the door to get sick.

He and others in the car are understood to have been travelling to Limerick at around 1am.

Mr O’Brien had moved to live in Tralee some time ago.

He fell from the car into the path of an oncoming BMW car driven by a 67-year-old man who lives in the area.

After the incident, the Avensis drove on, and then returned to the scene. The driver shouted at the driver of the BMW who had remained at the scene and who had gone to the assistance of Mr O’Brien.

Gardaí were alerted and the N69 was closed off near Kildimo until Saturday afternoon until deputy State pathologist Dr Michael Curtis carried out a preliminary examination of the body.

The location is close to the Dromore Inn, also known as the Beer Garden. Gardaí are appealing to any person who came incident or any person in possession of information to contact them on 069 20650.

In 2007, Tony O’ Brien was found guilty at Limerick Circuit Court of the manslaughter the previous year of Keith Ryan, who was beaten to death near the Shannon Bridge.

He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

However, a retrial was ordered and Mr O’Brien subsequently got a seven-year sentence, with time served taken into account.

Tony O’Brien had amassed more than 40 criminal convictions.