Teen father jailed for part in fatal hit-and-run

By Natasha Reid

A teenage father has been jailed for two years for being a passenger in a stolen car, which knocked down and killed a man in Dublin two years ago.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that a 40-year-old man, Michael Farrelly, died after being struck by the stolen vehicle while crossing Coast Road, Baldoyle, at around 1am on July 17, 2024.

Calum McDonagh (19) was before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Thursday , where he pleaded guilty to knowingly allowing himself to be carried in the vehicle without the consent of the owner.

Sergeant Ronan Cowley told the court that gardaí noticed a white Hyundai driving along the coast road in Portmarnock that morning. They saw that it was being driven by a youth, with another youth in the passenger seat, who turned out to be McDonagh.

Gardaí activated their blue lights, but the Hyundai failed to stop. They alerted Command and Control and followed the car for 4.2km.

They saw the vehicle hit something but continued driving. The Gardaí stopped and saw a person on the ground; Michael Farrelly was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later.

The Hyundai was discovered 500 metres away on Willie Nolan Road. Enquiries began, and a taxi driver was stopped and explained that he had been booked to take someone to McDonagh’s address.

McDonagh was not home when Gardaí arrived at his house, and it turned out that he had been picked up by his mother in the early hours.

The Hyundai was examined, and its windscreen was shattered. It was confirmed to have been stolen from outside the owner’s house that night. CCTV was gathered, and McDonagh was identified travelling in the car about 10 minutes before the incident.

When McDonagh handed over his clothes to gardaí that morning, fragments found on his clothing matched shards of glass from the windscreen.

He was arrested, having presented himself with his mother at Clontarf Garda Station, and told gardai that he was deeply sorry for what had happened to Mr Farrelly and his family.

He was asked who was driving, and he responded that he was the passenger. He said that he had got into the driver’s seat, that the key was in the car and that he had pushed the button and it started. He then moved over to the passenger seat, he said.

He was asked if he knew they had hit a person, and he said that he did. He had seen him hit the windscreen.

He was asked what he had said to the driver. He replied that he had asked him to stop the car and let him out, but that he had not.

CCTV footage was shown to McDonagh during his interview.

“I swing the door open to try to get out the passenger side,” he said, pointing to a section of footage.

Gardaí accepted that the footage corroborated that he was trying to get out of the car.

McDonagh agreed that he had cancelled taxis and accepted that he was hiding from Gardaí that night.

He was formally charged in October 2025, before he turned 19. The court heard that the driver is also before the courts at the moment.

The court heard that McDonagh had 91 previous convictions, including for unauthorised taking of vehicles and for unauthorised carrying, the same offence to which he pleaded guilty in this incident.

He also had six convictions for dangerous driving and was disqualified from driving at the time.

Since this incident almost two years ago, he has committed 25 offences and has received two jail terms.

Under cross-examination by his barrister, Gerardine Small SC, Sgt Cowley agreed that McDonagh’s mother and a friend, who had picked him up that night, described him as distraught. He had been ‘crying like a baby’, kept saying he was sorry, but wouldn’t say for what, they said.

The deceased man’s brother, Conor Farrelly, entered the witness box to read a victim impact statement.

He said that his brother, ‘Mikey’, was just 50 metres from safety, exactly where he was supposed to be, when he was killed. Only 10 minutes earlier, he had said good night to his family.

“What happened has destroyed our lives,” he said. “His death has crushed us. It’s crushed me.”

Mr Farrelly said that every day, he drives by the place where his brother was killed and is haunted by it.

He said that his brother’s injuries were so bad that the family was forced to have a closed casket at his funeral

Mr Farrelly said that his brother was meant to be the best man at his wedding.

“He never met our daughter,” he added.

He referenced guilty pleas and remorse, but said that true remorse would have been to stop, to check if Mikey was alive.

“You did not even attempt to help Mikey. You have destroyed our lives,” he said. “One thing you can’t take from us is the memory of Mikey and the love we have for him.”

Ms Small said that her client had offered an unreserved apology for his actions, which had catastrophic consequences.

She said he had been diagnosed with autism and ADHD at the age of four and had attended a special school.

His father had been absent from his childhood, and when he was present, he had a negative impact. He left school at the age of 12.

A report from a consultant neuropsychiatrist was handed in. It detailed that he also had symptoms consistent with PTSD. He is now a father to twin boys and is receiving psychological treatment in custody.

Judge Orla Crowe said there was no gainsaying the size of the tragedy for Mr Farrelly’s family and friends, ‘spoken of so eloquently by his brother’.

She said that it was probably of limited comfort but noted the evidence that he was distraught when he was picked up and that a psychologist had described his remorse as genuine.

She said that he has already spent a large period of his life in custody and is now on a 23-hour lock up.

She said that his mother had done her very best for him and had not wanted him to go out that night.

“A lot of people have paid the price for his offending behaviour,” she said.

She imposed a sentence of two years and six months. Due to his youth, adverse childhood, and neurodiversity, she suspended the final six months for a year.