Man accused over fatal crash admits he lied to gardai

A man accused of killing a pedestrian in a hit-and-run accident has admitted he lied to gardai about his whereabouts at the time…

A man accused of killing a pedestrian in a hit-and-run accident has admitted he lied to gardai about his whereabouts at the time of the crash.

Bradean Samolia told gardai his car had been stolen, but later admitted he was driving it when he struck Mr Noel Farrell in Prussia Street, Dublin.

Mr Farrell's widow, Margaret, broke down in the witness-box as she recalled seeing her husband being thrown into the air.

Another witness said Samolia returned to the scene of the accident and asked people what had happened.

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Samolia, a 26-year-old Romanian, of Gardiner Place, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to making a false statement to gardai, but pleaded not guilty to dangerous driving causing death, failing to stop at the scene of an accident, and failing to keep his car at the scene on February 2nd last year. An interpreter sat with Samolia throughout the first day of his trial.

Opening the prosecution case, Ms Una Ni Raifeartaigh read from Samolia's statement in which he admitted he had made a false stolen-car report on the morning of the accident. Samolia admitted he was driving a friend through Prussia Street when he heard a loud bang. He did not know what he had hit but knew he had done something "very bad".

He parked his car in another street and later rang gardai to tell them it had been stolen. He went home to his wife and was shaking as he told her he had been involved in an accident. Mrs Margaret Farrell told Ms Ni Raifeartaigh that her husband had parked their car in Prussia Street and walked more than half way across the road to give directions to a passer-by. It was a frosty morning, and conditions on the road were poor.

Mrs Farrell said she saw the lights of a car as it came round the corner. It was getting faster and faster, and she shouted a warning to her husband. There was a sudden bang, and her husband was thrown into the air. She found him lying with his head against the kerb. He was rushed to hospital and died two days later.

Asked by defence counsel, Mr Peter Finlay SC, to comment on Samolia's assertion that he was travelling at a reasonable speed, Mrs Farrell replied that he was travelling "very, very fast". "It's not something I'm going to forget," she added. Mr John Cassidy said Mr Farrell was crossing the road to give him directions when he was struck. He had shouted at Mr Farrell not to cross because a car was "coming hard" down the road. "The car did not stop. He did not brake or anything, he was going that fast," Mr Cassidy added. He felt "pretty sick" after the accident. He had never seen anything like it in his life.

He told Mr Finlay the car had parking lights on at the time. A minibus driver, Mr Sean Wolohan, said he saw something being thrown upwards and thought it was a plastic bag. He then saw that someone had been tossed about 12 to 14 feet into the air. He could not see the colour of the car, but knew it was speeding.

Mr Wolohan agreed with defence counsel, Mr Michael O'Higgins (with Mr Finlay), that the incident happened very quickly and it took a "split second" for his eyes to adjust to what had happened.

Mr Spencer Ferris, one of three witnesses who were travelling in a car on the other side of the road, said he saw a body being thrown into the air and saw the flash of a blue vehicle passing by.

Later, two men came down the road towards the scene of the accident. One of them spoke with an east European accident. He asked what had happened, and Mr Ferris replied that there had been an accident. The man asked if the injured person was all right, and Mr Ferris replied that it "did not look good".

The man then turned round and walked up towards Hanlon's Corner. Mr Ferris agreed with Mr O'Higgins that he did not see Samolia's car hit Mr Farrell, and he could only give an impression of what he saw.

The trial continues before Judge Patrick McCartan and a jury.