Fatal crash inquest hears Garda was over speed limit

An off-duty Garda has denied at an inquest that he was driving too fast when his car struck a pedestrian in a fatal road crash.

An inquest has heard an off-duty Garda was driving over the speed limit when his car struck a 23-year-old pedestrian in a fatal road crash.

Promising rugby player Jack Whelan died on Easter Sunday last year after being knocked down on the Clontarf Road near his home in Dublin.

He had just got out of a taxi on his way home from a house party.

The driver, Aiden Morgan, an off-duty guard stationed in Howth, denied at the inquest that he was driving so fast at the time of the collision that he was unable to stop the car.

He said he was on his way home from work along the Clontarf Road at around 6.30am on the morning in question when a pedestrian stepped out into his lane without looking.

Mr Whelan died in hospital later that morning from multiple injuries.

Gda Morgan claims he was driving at around 50 kilometres an hour but the inquest heard a forensic collision investigator found he was in fact over the speed limit.

The jury returned a verdict of death by misadventure.

Coroner Dr Brian Farrell has offered his condolences to the Whelan family calling the death a devastating loss.