Man (41) appears in court charged in connection with fatal Balbriggan hit-and-run

Married father-of-three Mircea Rostas (33) was struck by a car at Railway Street in Balbriggan
Man (41) appears in court charged in connection with fatal Balbriggan hit-and-run

Tom Tuite

A 41-year-old man has been accused of severely injuring another man who died following a collision in Balbriggan, Co Dublin, on Monday night.

Married father-of-three Mircea Rostas (33) was struck by a car at around 9pm at Railway Street.

Emergency services treated Mr Rostas, who lived in Balbriggan, at the scene but he died a short time later.

Daniel Rostas (41), of Hastings Green, Balbriggan appeared before Judge Michele Finan at Dublin District Court on Thursday.

He was charged with intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to Mircea Rostas at Railway Street, and listened to the proceedings with the aid of a Romanian interpreter.

Detective Garda John Delaney told Judge Finan that the accused was charged at Balbriggan Garda Station shortly after 1.10am on Thursday and "made no reply".

He confirmed that he intended to object to bail, however, defence solicitor Sandra Frayne told the judge her client was not making an application at this stage.

However, she added he would seek bail on a future date and gardaí would be given advance notice.

Mr Rostas, who is not related to the deceased, was wearing black grey top, grey pants and black and white runners, and did not address the court.

Judge Finan remanded him in custody to appear on July 3rd at Cloverhill District Court, with the defence solicitor saying her client preferred to appear in person and not via video link.

Judge Finan granted legal aid after noting that the accused was on a disability benefit and she added that the case would listed for directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions on the next date.

She also agreed to a defence request for appropriate medical attention for Mr Rostas while in custody.

The charge is under section 4 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997.

Gardaí have appealed for any road users or pedestrians who may have camera and dash-cam footage from the area between 8.30pm and 9.30pm to make it available. They have also asked that social media users not share footage of medics administering CPR to Mr Mircea at the scene.

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