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A 35-year-old man has been jailed for six years after he was found guilty of dangerous driving causing the death of GAA broadcaster Paudie Palmer in West Cork in December 2022.
Bohdan Bezverkhyi, a Ukrainian national, of Rigsdale House, Rigsdale, Ballinhassig, Co Cork, was also disqualified from driving for ten years.
Sentencing Bezverkhyi at the Circuit Criminal Court in Cork, Judge Jonathan Dunphy described the case as tragic.
He pleaded guilty to four charges related to leaving the scene of the crash.
Bezverkhyi also pleaded guilty to a charge of dangerous driving which related to the day before the fatal collision, when he recorded himself driving his BMW 5 Series car at speeds of 200km/h at Curaheen, Co Cork.
However, he pleaded not guilty to the charge of dangerous driving causing the death of Mr Palmer at Dunkereen Cross, Innishannon, Co Cork, on 29 December 2022.
Mr Palmer was fatally injured in the crash, in which his car overturned.
The jury deliberated for around five hours before returning with a unanimous guilty verdict on the seventh day of the trial.
The family of the late Mr Palmer said that hearing him being blamed for the accident which took his life “was very offensive”.
In her victim impact statement at the sentencing hearing, Mr Palmer’s eldest daughter Claire said to hear their father “being blamed for this accident is hurtful”, and, even at this stage, if the defendant had shown any sign of remorse “it would be of some comfort but this remorse has never been seen”.
Claire Palmer-Panagiodis described her father as the cornerstone of their family, their mentor, supporter and guiding star, and the family have struggled to cope since his death following the “horrendous” collision.
She said after spending his first and last Christmas with his first grandchild, Lucas, her father left home to meet a work colleague and was struck by a vehicle that left the scene, only 500 metres from their family home.
She spoke about her recent wedding which had been postponed in the wake of her father’s death saying “not having your father to walk you down the aisle, which is every girl’s dream, was simply heartbreaking”.
She said “having to place my father’s buttonhole of flowers on his grave instead of my mother pinning it to his suit was utterly distressing, on a day that should haven been the happiest in our family’s lives”.
The family had found the trial (and the previous trial in February which ended in a mistrial) very hard to take, she told the court.
“To hear our father being blamed for the incident was very offensive,” Ms Palmer-Panagiodis said.
“A man that had only respect by every single person he came in contact with, not just in the county but the entire country grieved when they heard the news of dad’s tragic passing.”
The family have been deeply hurt by the lack of remorse shown by the defendant, she said.
“To hear our father being blamed for this accident is hurtful and even at this late stage if the accused man had shown any sign of remorse and could at least realise the effect his actions have had, obviously on our father but the rest of us for the remainder of our lives it would be of some comfort but this remorse has never been seen,” she said.
Mr Palmer’s younger brother John said that every aspect of the road traffic collision is difficult to deal with, from the defendant leaving the scene to admitting what he did in text messages to his family and friends.
He recalled his brother’s broadcasting career and how when the summer season kicked in Paudie was on the airways “where we would all tune in to listen to his magic commentary on the big games”.
“He had the ability to turn a bad game into a good game,” Mr Palmer said.
“These games now have a different meaning for us as we will never hear that magic commentary again.”
Judge Dunphy read the statements and reports given in to the court before he sentenced Bezverkhyi.
Additional reporting Jennie O’Sullivan
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