A man who knocked down and killed a 62-year-old cyclist after breaking a red light in Dublin says he is ashamed for leaving the scene afterwards.

Christopher Coleman of Reuben Street, Dublin 8 is due to be sentenced next week for dangerous driving causing the death of Eugene Maher.

In her Victim Impact Statement, Marie Maher spoke of how she held her husband’s hand and tried to comfort him in hospital after the crash.

She said she cried like a baby when his coffin came through their front door a few weeks later and described life without him as “meaningless”.

Their daughter Lisa said she’s still angry at the thought of him being left on the road to die like an animal.

On June 30th last year, Christopher Coleman drove at speed up the bus lane of a busy Dublin junction.

He broke a red light and crashed into Eugene Maher, who was flung from his bike and suffered a fatal head injury.

He then left the scene and abandoned the car nearby – something that still fills him with shame, he said.

The court heard he was disqualified at the time and was driving his friends around because he was the only one of the group who had not been drinking.

The 27-year-old is due to be sentenced next week.