Driver who killed Deliveroo cyclist drove through a red light and had bought car hours before fatal hit-and-run

After Deliveroo cycle courier Thiago Cortes was killed in a hit-and-run in Dublin earlier this week, investigators have now revealed the untaxed, uninsured car that hit him was bought by four youths just hours before the fatal incident. It's also believed that the driver ran a red light before colliding with Mr Cortes, who was turning at a junction. 

The incident happened on North Wall Quay at around 10.30pm on Monday, and the 28-year-old Brazilian had his life support turned off on Wednesday morning after suffering catastrophic head and neck injuries and internal bleeding. The driver failed to stop at the scene, and the car was recovered by gardai a short distance away.  

The Irish Sun report that the four youths who were in the car had bought the 2005 Ford Focus from a man in the north of Dublin on Monday afternoon. While local media are reporting that gardai have questioned a 15-year-old boy about the incident, it's also believed that the 16-year-old male driver has now come forward following "outrage" from the local community, who passed his name onto the authorities; both youths are yet to be arrested.  

Gardai also say that they believe the collision was accidental according to the Irish Sun, but the "utterly reckless" actions of the driver have been condemned. It's thought that the driver had failed to stop at a red light before hitting Mr Cortes, who was turning at a junction, and investigators are trying to establish if the vehicle slowed down after the collision before the driver chose to leave the scene. 

 

 

 

 

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Yesterday thousands of people went out for the same cause! In support of #justiceforthiago ! This is a beautiful portrait of how united we get in this special moment. To pray for Thiago’s soul and support his family. We don’t believe in violence. We don’t want to protesting with anger. We believe on the power of our voices, together, stronger echoing through the 4 sides of the city of Dublin! We believe we need more empathy from drivers. We are all cyclist, we are people! We are immigrants and our lives matter! #justiceforthiago help up posting and tagging us and the #immigrantslivesmatter on your social media’s! We all need you ! 🌍👊🏻🌍 Video: @allanvictortv

A post shared by Immigrants Lives Matter (@justiceforthiagodublin) on Sep 3, 2020 at 2:47pm PDT

A crowdfunder set up by Mr Cortes' fiancé Teresa Dantas to cover funeral costs and the possible repatriation of his body to Brazil has raised over €65,000 at the time of writing. The Instagram account 'justiceforthiagodublin' was also created to highlight the dangers faced by immigrants who work as bicycle delivery couriers, encouraging followers to use the hashtags #justiceforthiago and #immigrantslivesmatter. This follows a large rally and vigil in Dublin that was held on Wednesday evening after Mr Cortes was confirmed to have died of his injuries, which was organised by food delivery workers and Dublin's Brazilian community.

A recent post on the justiceforthiagodublin Instagram account said: "He was definitely not the first victim and lots of situations of violence with delivery riders are being shared on the news across the city. But we need to make sure he is the last!"

Mr Cortes had only started working for Deliveroo around ten days before he was killed, with Ms Dantas telling the Irish Mirror that he travelled to Ireland "for a better life".