Man receives suspended sentence after Longford hit and run that left woman with catastrophic injuries

A Circuit Court judge has said he can’t help wondering if a man who “disappeared mysteriously” into a wooded area for several hours after causing serious injury to a woman in a collision was intoxicated and chose to hide out to avoid a drunk driving conviction.

However, without express evidence of intoxication, Judge Kenneth Connolly was “not allowed to speculate” in the case of Arunas Raisys (50), with an address in Ballinamuck, Co Longford.

Mr Raisys first appeared before Longford Circuit Court on May 17, 2022, charged with dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm in Ballinamuck on September 9, 2021.

He was also charged with failing to give, on demand, the appropriate information to Gardaí, for leaving the scene of the accident, and for failure to report the occurrence of an accident.

Also read: Longford Gardaí disrupt planned cannabis grow farm

In October 2023, he entered a guilty plea to dangerous driving on a full facts basis and the case was adjourned to July to allow for the preparation of a probation report.

Garda Campbell Brennan told the court that the injured party was travelling in the passenger seat of her daughter’s car, with her granddaughter in the back seat when a van came around a dangerous bend and collided with their car.

The car kept going backwards until the driver pulled the handbrake to slow down in an attempt to avoid going into the ditch. Mr Raisys, however, kept driving until he reached his house a short distance away.

When he got out of his car, he was met by his wife who was “screaming and roaring” at him in their own language before stopping and simply staring at him. Mr Raisys then walked away into the wooded area behind the house and was not seen again for several hours.

When Gardaí arrived, he wasn’t present in the vehicle or the surrounding area. Air support assistance was called in and the area was thoroughly searched but Mr Raisys could not be located.

Also read: Gardaí swarm site as dig gets underway for girl (15) who vanished 30 years ago

He returned home “in the early hours of the morning”, the court heard, and said he had fallen unconscious. There was damage to the front windscreen of his car, where he had hit his head during the collision.

Mr Raisys’ wife told Gardaí that, when she went out to the van following the collision, “it was like he didn’t see me”.

“I checked on the other people, then went back to my husband and he was gone. I was scared because he faints when he sees blood,” she said.

When questioned by Gardaí, Mr Raisys said he only remembered “when I opened my eyes it was very dark and I was in the forest”.

The injured party was an elderly woman who required extensive ICU care following the crash. Her injuries were significant and included severe trauma to her chest and abdomen, including a fractured sternum and multiple rib fractures.

In her victim impact statement, the woman said she was fit and healthy before the collision and loved working with her 40 cows on her own. She had named each of her cows and loved them. Now she can no longer milk and take care of them and does not know their names.

Also read: Gardaí investigating as cash stolen during broad daylight Cloontuskert house break-in

She said she doesn't remember being in ICU for 11 days, but she remembers she couldn’t see her family due to the strict Covid rules of only one family member permitted at a time.

She said she “felt like a child” because she couldn’t sleep in her own bed, change her own clothes or cook and she is now afraid to drive or be a passenger in a car as a result of the incident.

Mr Raisys has no previous convictions and there was no suggestion or evidence that he had consumed alcohol or drugs before getting behind the wheel that day, the court heard.

PICTURES | Stetsons, stilettos, music and fun at lively Line Dance Longford event

Judge Connolly noted that the collision occurred and Mr Raisys “disappeared mysteriously into the woods” at approximately six o’clock in the evening, but there was nothing more definite than “the early house of the morning” given in evidence regarding his return home.

“There was also no evidence that his family were out with sticks looking for him. One can’t help wondering if he was intoxicated and decided to head into the woods until he had exceeded the three hours in which Gardaí could test him for alcohol,” he said.

“It might be obvious, but I have no evidence of that and I’m not allowed to speculate. Alcohol and drugs are not in this case, so I have to assume that this man was entirely sober.”

Aggravating factors in the case included the fact that Mr Raisys came around the bend on the wrong side of the road, as well as the “catastrophic” injuries caused to the injured party.

PROPERTY WATCH | Renowned Longford pub on the market to be sold to the highest bidder

“There’s every inference that some speed was involved when looking at the damage. When one sees the photographs I’ve seen, the front of Mr Raisys’ van is absolutely decimated,” he said.

“The Renault was also considerably damaged and probably a write-off,” he added, referring to the car in which the injured party was a passenger.

“The Renault was pushed along the road. Newton’s law says if two moving objects collide, they slow each other down, but this van not only slowed the Renault down, it pushed it along the road. The driver pulled the handbrake and it still didn’t stop.”

However, Judge Connolly gave credit for a number of mitigating factors, including a plea of guilty, a lack of previous convictions and the fact Mr Raisys has always been in employment since he moved to Ireland over a decade ago.

There was “no useful purpose for imposing an immediate custodial sentence”, Judge Connolly noted, setting a sentence of two years and six months and suspending it in its entirety for a period of four years.

“It does absolutely no good to put him in prison because, instead of having him working and contributing to society by paying taxes, we would have someone in prison at the expense of the state,” he said.

Mr Raisys has been ordered to pay a sum of €5,000 to a road victims charity within 12 months, and has been disqualified from driving for six years, starting on August 15 at 12pm, to allow him to arrange for an alternative driver at his place of work.

“Before he drives again, he’ll be obliged to resit all aspects of the driving test and undertake a pro-social driving course,” said Judge Connolly.

“If there is any application to restore his licence, I want the judge to be aware of my condition that he re-sit his test and I want a copy of that court order to be sent to the Road Safety Authority.”

Finally, he ordered that a sum of €2,500 that Mr Raisys had brought to court to be handed over to State Solicitor Mark Connellan, to be paid to the injured party in due course.