Marin Silaghi had been in Ireland for only eight weeks when his van struck 16-year-old Kedagh Moore 250 metres from the boy’s home. Silaghi did not stop or offer assistance. Hours later, confronted with extensive damage at a Garda checkpoint, he blamed a deer or a rock. A jury convicted him on all four charges and he received five years and nine months.
The death of Kedagh Moore
Shortly after 12.40am on 10 November 2024, Kedagh Moore was walking on the R403 between Allenwood and Prosperous in Co Kildare. Silaghi’s van struck him close to his home. The teenager was left face-down on the road and died.
The trial heard that the road was dark, Kedagh wore dark clothing and Silaghi was within the speed limit. Silaghi was not convicted of causing the collision. His convictions concerned what followed and the condition of the van: failing to stop, remain and offer assistance with intent to evade criminal or civil liability, and driving a vehicle he knew or ought to have known was dangerously defective.
The deer story
Gardaí encountered Silaghi at a checkpoint about three hours later. He initially attributed the extensive front-end damage to a deer, a stone or another object and said he did not believe he had struck a person. His employer also received a message claiming that he had hit an animal.
A jury unanimously rejected his defence in June 2026. At sentencing, Judge Elva Duffy said it was difficult to understand how he did not know what had happened. She found that he had expressed remorse for Kedagh’s death but not for the offences of which he was convicted.
Arrival, sentence and future status
Silaghi is a Romanian national. His first court hearing was told that he had arrived in Ireland eight weeks earlier to work in construction and intended eventually to bring his wife and children. He had no previous convictions. Gardaí opposed bail as a flight risk because his immediate family remained in Romania.
On 21 July 2026, the court imposed five years and nine months and disqualified him from driving for fifteen years. The public reporting located for this file records no appeal, prisoner-transfer process or future residence assessment. As an EU citizen, any future restriction would require the applicable EU and Irish legal process; conviction does not itself prove an automatic removal outcome.
Chronology
- September 2024: Approximate arrival in Ireland, according to the first court hearing.
- 10 November 2024: Fatal collision and failure to stop near Robertstown.
- 12 November 2024: Bail refused after Garda flight-risk objection.
- 25 June 2026: Unanimous guilty verdicts on all four counts.
- 21 July 2026: Five years and nine months; fifteen-year driving ban.
Cost benchmark
The full sentence at the Irish Prison Service’s 2024 staffed-space average represents a gross capacity benchmark of €569,664.
Questions the State should answer
- What checks applied to the dangerously defective work vehicle?
- Will a prisoner-transfer assessment be considered?
- Will his EU residence position be reviewed before release?
- Has any appeal been filed?
- How will the fifteen-year driving disqualification be enforced across borders?