A 21-year-old man will be sentenced next month for dangerous driving causing the death of his friend whose body lay undiscovered in a car for some time after it slammed into the back of a truck two years ago.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Jake Kelly climbed out of the car after the accident at Celbridge in Co Kildare in July 2023, but it was some time before the body of his passenger Ross Rice was discovered, as the car had been covered by tarmacadam which unloaded from the truck on impact. Mr Rice was killed instantly.
The court was told the speedometer of the car had stopped at 160km/h.
Jake Kelly, from Ballyfermot Road in Ballyfermot, Dublin 10, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death, driving without insurance and failing to report an accident.
Garda Jennifer Finnegan told the court the two men had gone out fox hunting at night and had two lurcher dogs in the boot of the car.
There were road works at a regional road linking Celbridge to Lucan and temporary traffic lights were in place.
A lorry was stopped at the lights on the unlit road when the car driven by Kelly, but owned by Mr Rice, slammed into the back of it, causing its trailer to break open and unload the tarmacadam.
The lorry and trailer were shunted forward by 1.4m, the court was told.
Kelly managed to get out of the car and walked away from the area.
He later contacted the sister and partner of Mr Rice to say there had been a crash. He said he had to leave the area as he was on bail at the time and was subject to a curfew and was worried about going to jail.
He was not sure if Mr Rice was still in the vehicle.
He was later arrested and told gardaí he was in shock afterwards and did not look over to see if Mr Rice was still in the car and thought he might be "in the fields".
It was only when the fire service arrived and it was decided to remove the car from underneath the trailer that it became apparent there was someone else in the car and Mr Ross's body was discovered.
A post-mortem showed he had died from blunt force trauma to the head along with chest injuries and compromised and obstructed airways.
Torches and a fox whistle were found in the car along with two lurcher dogs in the boot who were taken for veterinary assessment.
Kelly was aged 19 and on bail at the time for offences which were subsequently struck out.
Victim impact statements from Mr Rice's family were handed in to court but were not read out.
Defence Counsel David Staunton told the court Kelly had fully accepted responsibility for his actions on the night and was deeply remorseful.
Gardaí agreed he had been genuinely extremely upset when interviewed.
Mr Staunton said the incident had a profound effect on his client and he had expressed deep remorse and concern for the Rice family and had said he would have preferred if he had died.
He had been diagnosed as having a major depressive disorder with suicidal ideation since the crash, Mr Staunton said.
Judge Martina Baxter offered her sympathy to the family of Ross Rice and said she wanted time to consider the matter.
She remanded Mr Kelly in custody until 11 December.
