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Philip Ormond irishphotodesk.ie

Man who fled scene after fatally knocking down woman in her 80s jailed for four years

Philip Ormond (43) had driven through a red light and was 18km over the speed limit when he fatally struck Kathleen Furlong.

A MAN WHO left the scene after he had knocked down a woman in her 80s as she was crossing the road has been jailed for four years and three months for dangerous driving causing death.

Philip Ormond (43) had driven through a red light and was 18km over the speed limit when he struck Kathleen Furlong on the R136 in Tallaght at the junction of Fortunestown Way and Cheeverstown Road around 11am on 8 September 2023.

Despite the efforts of various people – including an off-duty doctor who had been in traffic at the time – to assist Ms Furlong, she was pronounced dead at the scene. She had suffered severe head injuries and multiple fractures to her leg, hip and pelvis.

Witnesses to the collision described Ms Furlong as being flung up into the air. One person said she was knocked about 12 foot into the air and that her body rotated while in the air. Gardaí were told she hit the ground and remained stationary. 

Ms Furlong’s shoes were in two different places, and her shopping, including a bottle of milk she had just bought, was further down the road, with the milk cartoon smashed.

A witness later told gardaí that they were “pretty sure” Ormond had broken a red light. He was seen driving off after the collision, stopping for a moment, getting out of the car and driving off again.

One man said he saw the driver after he stopped the car and said he had a “look of panic” on his face.

A victim impact statement, read to the court by Joe Mulrean BL, prosecuting, and prepared by Ms Furlong’s children said Ormond had made “a deliberate choice to drive dangerously and leave our Mam dying on the road”.

They said Ormond had shown “a disregard for others” and described his driving as “an act of recklessness that goes beyond negligence”. They said it was “not an accident – it was a choice”.

They said his behaviour demonstrated “a reckless disregard for human life” and how he had mowed their mother down.

“He imposed a death penalty on our mother and a life sentence on us until our dying breath,” the statement said before they added that Ormond “must be accountable for the life lost and the lives impacted”.

Ms Furlong’s children said that no words could fully capture the depth of their grief and they struggled to find the words to truly convey the impact of her death on them.

They said their mother was the only person in the world that truly understood each of them and said she was “full of life and kindness”.

They described Ms Furlong as “a rock” and said she had “an incredible way of bringing light and hope to any situation”.

Ormond of Deerpark Place, Kiltipper Road, Tallaght, Dublin 24, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to dangerous driving causing death to Ms Furlong on 8 September 2023. He also admitted to leaving the scene of a collision.

Ormond’s 53 previous convictions included 24 road traffic offences, including one for dangerous driving from 2002. While Ormond had an insurance policy on the car, it had lapsed due to non-payment of the premium.

Judge Martin Nolan told defender Garret Baker SC yesterday, after evidence was heard, that there were three aggravating factors in the case: the speed Ormond was travelling, the fact that he had adequate time to see the red light and yet he didn’t respond, and leaving the scene.

The judge suggested to counsel that Ormond’s motivation to leave the scene was because he knew he had broken a red light.

Counsel replied that his instructions were that Ormond reacted in “a blind panic”.

Judge Nolan acknowledged that there was “no doubt” that Ormond is remorseful but noted that all other road users that day saw the situation with the traffic lights and “obeyed the situation”.

“Looking at the evidence he had a long period to see the light,” before the judge again suggested that Ormond “knew he had done something wrong and that was his reason for moving from the scene”.

Baker asked the court to accept that Ormond’s guilty plea was “a mitigating factor” in the case while acknowledging that there was strong evidence against him.

He said a letter from Senator Lynn Ruane was before the court because counsel said she feels the need to offer support to Ormond but she is at pains to sympathize with the Furlong family.

Baker asked the court to accept that there was no evidence of alcohol, drugs, phone use, a defective vehicle or dangerous driving over a sustained period.

Judge Nolan adjourned the case overnight to consider it.

Sentencing Omond today, Judge Nolan expressed the court’s sympathies to Ms Furlong’s family.

He said it was clear she was “beloved by her children, grandchildren, extended family and all the people who knew her”, adding this was a “particularly tragic end for a lady who lived a productive and meaningful life”.

He said the court considered from the evidence that there was “ample opportunity” for Ormond to observe the red light and take action. Judge Nolan said the evidence was that Ormond “took a chance”.

“Unfortunately for everyone, particularly Ms Furlong and her family, her death ensued due to this defendant taking that chance,” the judge added.

He said the court had considered the mitigation, and accepted Ormond’s remorse was genuine. After imposing a sentence of four years and three months, Judge Nolan disqualified Ormond from driving for six years.

Garda Niall O’Rorke showed various CCTV footage to the court during the sentence hearing showing the collision and the movements of the Ford Focus Ormond was driving afterwards. The footage included video from the Ring doorbell of Ormond’s partner.

He can be seen coming into the house with a woman who can be heard saying to another woman at the door “he is after knocking down an old woman…. she is dead”.

There was a conversation around whether he was insured and a question as to where the car was. Ormond can be seen leaving in different clothing. He had been wearing an Ireland jersey earlier.

Garda O’Rourke said the Ford Focus was later found parked up close to where Ormond’s partner lived. The registration plates were covered in a black plastic bag.

The vehicle was registered to Ormond and he was contacted by gardaí later that evening. He came to the station a number of hours later and made full admissions, with a garda commenting to him during interview that he was “being remarkably co-operative”.

Ormond told gardaí in interview that Ms Furlong “came straight out in front of him”. He said he hit her and she struck the windscreen before going up on the bonnet.

He claimed that when he stopped, he called out at the people gathered and asked if the woman was breathing.

“I panicked and jumped back into the car. I thought she was okay.”

“I am still trying to take it all in,” Ormond told gardaí.

He told officers that he believed he had a green light and that he would not have been driving at speed.

“I just panicked. That is my mistake. I cannot apologise enough,” he said.

He said in his honest opinion he didn’t see Ms Furlong after officers put it to him that as she was an elderly woman she would have been walking slowly and could not have just come out of nowhere.

Ormond denied that he was on his phone or that anything was distracting him – “I did not see her until the moment of impact,” he said. He continued to deny that he went through a red light and insisted that it was green.

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