Courts / Dublin / Report

Trucker disqualified for drink-driving is jailed for 10 months for causing death of motorcyclist

Date
2018-02-07

Stage
Sentence

Primary locality
Dublin

County
Dublin

Summary

Patrick McArdle, a 48‑year‑old former mechanic and casual truck driver from Co. Armagh, pleaded guilty in the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to careless driving causing the death of Slawomir Korytowski, a married father‑of‑two who was travelling with four other motorcyclists to catch a ferry to Scotland. The fatal incident occurred on 3 July 2015 at North Wall Quay when McArdle, who had been disqualified for drink‑driving for six years a year earlier and for further driving offences last year, pulled out of a loading bay and briefly crossed onto the wrong side of the road. Korytowski, panicking at the oncoming lorry, applied the brakes, was thrown from his bike and struck under the wheel of another lorry, dying at the scene. The judge, citing McArdle's misjudgment and the aggravating factor that he was not legally permitted to drive, sentenced him to ten months' imprisonment and a six‑year driving ban.