Convicted killer crashed with a child in the car in Louth

A convicted killer who crashed a car on the M1 with a child in the back, and told another motorist he had collided with, that he was banned from driving and would go to prison, was jailed for five years at Dundalk Circuit Court last week.

Angelo O'Riordan formerly of Point Road, Bellurgan, who had been sentenced to 10 years by the Central Criminal Court in 2006 in a manslaughter case that involved a car, had called to collect his belongings from an address in Dublin the evening before the motorway crash.

The 37- year- old pleaded guilty to six charges, including taking possession of the car he was driving without the owner's consent, endangerment, drunk driving and driving without insurance or a driving licence at Junction 14 on the M1 southbound on January 21st 2024.

The court had previously heard that the woman who lived at the property went to bed as the defendant was taking so long and was woken by a call from gardaí around 6.30am the next day to say her 10 year old child had been involved in a crash and had been taken to hospital in Drogheda.

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Angelo O'Riordan began apologising to the other driver, but after he was told "he was going nowhere" when he attempted to leave, he said "I'm ending it" and climbed the barrier and stood in the middle of the motorway, forcing another motorist to brake and swerve to avoid him.

The court was told he tested positive for cocaine, cannabis and benzodiazepines.

He had 36 previous convictions including manslaughter and was jailed in November by Dublin Circuit Court for 15 months for endangerment offences.

The Senior Defence counsel said his client had a dysfunctional family background, and stressed that a substantial portion of his convictions were before his manslaughter conviction in 2006 and there had been a longer period of not committing offences, than the jail term he served.

Judge Dara Hayes imposed sentences totalling six years with the final 12 months suspended, subject to conditions.

These were to run consecutive to the sentence currently being served.