Woman avoids jail term for careless driving after striking elderly man as he crossed the road

Postdoctoral researcher didn’t realise she had struck the man

Megan O'Shaughnessy leaving the Criminal Courts of Justice, Dublin, after she received a suspended sentence. Picture: IrishPhotoDesk.ie

A postdoctoral researcher who didn’t realise she had struck an elderly man as he was crossing the street one January night has been given a three-month suspended sentence.

Megan O’Shaughnessy, aged 32, contacted the gardaí the following day after she noticed a dent in her Nissan Micra. She had initially thought she had struck debris while driving home at 9.45pm the previous evening.