'I’ve been served a life sentence': Kerry widow calls for tougher penalties for hit-and-run drivers 

Jackie Murphy's husband was out cycling when he was killed by a drunk learner driver who left the scene of the accident — she was given a four-year jail sentence which Jackie believes is not long enough

Patrick and Jackie Murphy on their wedding day.

A woman whose “soul mate” was killed by a drunk driver in Kerry has called for legal changes in a bid to make Ireland’s roads safer.

Jackie Murphy said prison sentences should be longer for anyone who kills someone on the road, with a minimum sentence of 14 years for anyone who flees the scene after hitting someone.

She is also calling for an immediate driving ban on anyone who kills someone while driving and for mandatory intoxicant testing for anyone involved in a road crash.

Her husband, Patrick Murphy, 68, was killed while out cycling one bright Sunday morning, shortly after leaving their home in Upper Tullig, Killorglin, on September 3, 2023.

He was wearing a high-visibility top but was hit by Jade Moriarty, who was extremely drunk at the time.

The impact propelled him over a wall into a neighbour’s garden.

Patrick was found some 30 minutes later, and died at the scene.

Moriarty said she cannot remember hitting him. She left the scene and drove another 2.5km before she crashed into a ditch.

Moriarty, a mother of three, of Muingaphuca, Killorglin, admitted dangerous driving causing death. She was sentenced to four years in prison.

Jackie first met Patrick ‘Elvis’ Murphy, the man who would become her husband, on a "blind date" when she was just 23.

He died six weeks before their 18th wedding anniversary.

“He worked in the local shop, so everyone knew him. People called him ‘Elvis’ because he loved Elvis Presley.” 

He was hardworking and “couldn’t sit still for five minutes”, Jackie said.

But one bright Sunday morning, everything changed.

“He’d always go out cycling on a Sunday if he wasn’t doing the grass,” Jackie said.

“It was a bright day. He was wearing a high-vis jacket, and he had lights on his bike.

“But he was late back. I assumed he had met someone and stopped for a chat.

“Then the squad car stopped at our house.

“They said ‘it’s your husband’, and I just knew.

“They asked me if I wanted to identify the body at the scene or if I wanted to identify it later in hospital.” 

Jackie went to identify her husband at the scene, a white cloth draped over him.

He had been propelled by the car into a neighbour’s garden.

Had he been knocked into a ditch or field instead, Jackie wonders when they would have found him.

“That’s frightening,” she said. “At least, where it happened, he was found.” 

The woman who killed Patrick was a learner driver at the time, she said.

The thing that got me most, and still gets to me, is the fact that she was allowed to drive afterwards and go into a driving test.

“If you kill someone on the roads, you should automatically be banned from driving.

“And blood samples [to test for intoxicants] should automatically be taken either at the scene or in hospital.

“And the sentences should be longer. She got over four years, but she’ll be out after three.

“But I’ve been served a life sentence. My husband’s not here anymore.

“And if someone leaves the scene — like she did — it should be a minimum of 14 to 20 years in prison.

“I will always wonder if she had stopped at the scene and helped Patrick, would he be alive today? I will never know.” 

An inquest has not yet been held into Patrick’s death.

“My husband hasn't got an actual cause of death yet. We can't get his full death certificate,” she said.

Jackie has been left with the emotional pain of her husband’s sudden loss. And she has also suffered financially, losing an important wage in the home.

“The first Christmas going into the new year, I didn't want to leave 2023. Because that meant going into the new year without him, leaving him behind.

“But I have to live for both of us now.” 

Jackie thanked the ambulance service, the gardaí and the fire service.

“Some were strangers, some were people I knew. It's hard for them too, especially when it's someone they knew.” 

Driving conditions were good on the day Patrick was killed.

But Moriarty and her boyfriend had been partying the night before. They had an argument and left a house party separately.

She took his van on Sunday morning to look for him when he did not return home.

At 8.25am, just 250m after leaving the house, she hit Patrick’s bike, propelling him over a wall and into a house’s front garden.

A passerby noticed debris on the road 30 minutes after the crash. He looked over the wall and saw Patrick extremely injured on the ground.

Moriarty was on a provisional licence and therefore should not have been driving unaccompanied.

She was uninsured on her boyfriend’s van.

After hitting Patrick, she drove another 2.5km and then hit a ditch.

She was arrested after this second crash and was found to have a blood alcohol reading of 197mg per 100ml, which was described in court as “high”.

Although a headline sentence of seven years was initially set by Judge Ronan Munro, this was reduced to four years and eight months due to mitigating factors, including her early guilty plea. 

The final eight months of her sentence were suspended, and she was disqualified from driving for eight years.