Richard Gerard Boyle

Richard Gerard Boyle, known to family and friends as Richie, was a 42 year old man from west Belfast whose name became known to the public not through fame but through tragedy. On the night of 5 February 2021 he was out walking his dog, Junior, on the Stewartstown Road when he was struck by a car travelling at close to 90mph in a 30mph zone. He died from his injuries and his dog was killed at the scene. The driver did not stop.

Little has been published about Richard Boyle's life before that night. He is remembered by his family as a son and brother who is missed every day, and the limited public record of him centres on the circumstances of his death and the long path to justice that followed it. He was the son of Mary Boyle and the late Tommy Boyle, and a brother to Tommy, Matt, Leanne and Mary Teresa.

The case mattered because of what happened after the collision. The driver, later identified as Martin Sean O'Lali, fled the scene, and the car involved was later found dumped and set on fire. In the months that followed, O'Lali falsely reported that his car and phone had been stolen and suggested blame lay on both sides of the collision. Four other people, including O'Lali's father, were later found to have helped cover up what happened or withheld information from police. The case became a prolonged ordeal for the Boyle family, who waited more than five years to see it resolved in court.

On 9 October 2026, more than five and a half years after Richard Boyle died, five people were sentenced at Laganside Crown Court in Belfast in connection with the collision and its aftermath. Martin Sean O'Lali was sentenced over causing death by careless driving, driving without insurance, failing to stop and perverting the course of justice. His father, Martin Paul Olali, and three others, Emma McCune, Tiernan Holden and Hugh O'Neill, were sentenced for offences connected to assisting him or withholding information afterwards.

Richard Boyle's death, and the five year wait for accountability, left a lasting mark on those who loved him. His mother, Mary Boyle, and his sisters spoke outside court after the sentencing, describing a family still living with grief and anger at how long justice had taken and at the driver's conduct both on the night of the crash and in the years since. His story is now remembered chiefly through their words and through the court record of what was done to him and to his dog that night on the Stewartstown Road.