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A 19-year-old Cork City FC player received a two-year suspended sentence and a seven-year driving ban after he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and causing the death of a father of two.
Edward Power McCarthy of College Avenue, Moyross, Co Limerick, admitted he was speeding when he killed 55-year-old Polish national Andrzej Obalek on February 18 in Ballybeg West, Buttevant, Co Cork.
The Cork Circuit Criminal Court heard that Mr. Obalek was in Limerick visiting friends when he lost his life in the head-on collision.
Her sister said in a statement on the victim’s impact that her late brother was a devout Jehovah’s Witness. “You have stolen my brother from me. The greatest punishment you will have is living with the knowledge that you have killed someone,” he said.
Sergeant Tony Cronin told Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin that Power McCarthy was driving home to Limerick after attending soccer training at the Cork Institute of Technology when the accident occurred. He had been attending training a few nights a week in Cork.
Power McCarthy was accelerating when his car veered onto the wrong side of the road. Mr. Obalek’s car was hit in the front.
He went into a ditch and died at the scene. Power McCarthy escaped serious injuries as did the other two male occupants of his car. Sergeant Cronin said the defendant was driving his car at “excessive speed,” which was particularly dangerous given that the area was a known crash black spot.
However, Power McCarthy was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol. He also had no prior convictions.
The young footballer, who spent three years in Great Britain at a football academy, addressed the witness stand where he apologized for his actions. He said he prayed for the deceased every day and was horrified by what happened on a routine trip from Cork.
Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin said the massive aggravating factor in the case was that the defendant was driving at high speed.
He said the young footballer should have been used to driving through the dangerous curves of Ballybeg and that it was his responsibility to show proper care.
Having heard that Power McCarthy was repentant and working hard at an express courier, he jailed him for two years, suspending the entire sentence. He said the seven-year driving ban was justified.
Judge Ó Donnabháin expressed frustration at the defense attorney’s suggestions to read a reference from the FAI. He said he was not interested in the defendant’s football career.
The judge said he hoped the words of the deceased’s sister were “burned into the brain” of Power McCarthy.
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