Garda ‘stopped pursuit’ before fatal crash

A GARDA who had been following a car which crashed, killing two young people in Dundalk, Co Louth, has told an inquest that he had stopped the pursuit just before the collision and denied he had been waiting “ready to pounce” on the vehicle.

Dominic Walsh had claimed in his deposition that he was some distance from the late night crash scene but conceded during cross examination that he was much nearer than he had originally thought.

Mairéad Boyle and Shane Hoey — who were both 20 and from Crossmaglen in South Armagh — died on May 2 last year when the BMW they were travelling in hit a crash barrier on a bend at the Long Walk, Dundalk shortly before 3am.

A forensic collision investigator told the jury in Dundalk on Monday that the anti-lock braking system was not working and he estimated Shane Hoey had been driving at over 90 kilometres per hour within a 50km per hour zone.

Yesterday, Dominic Walsh — who submitted his resignation the day before the inquest and who plans to emigrate to join the Western Australia Police — said he was pursuing the car to speak to the driver about his driving.

He told the jury he decided not to continue the pursuit as it was “of no benefit” and “the next thing I saw was the car explode in front of me”.

He was asked why Garda Jonathan Ryan — who was acting as an observer in the car — had told the jury during cross examination that the patrol car was accelerating when the crash happened.

Garda Walsh replied: “Garda Ryan would not have been aware of what was going on in my head in relation to the pursuit”.

When he was pushed further on the issue he added: “When you see a car explode in front of you. You see two people died in front of you … and you’re asking me to give an opinion of whether Garda Ryan was aware I had stopped the pursuit?”

During cross examination, Garda Walsh said he was aware Shane Hoey’s brother was involved in an incident with one of his colleagues but he said he did not ask for more details.

Sergeant Eugene Collins, who was in charge of the crash investigation, said media reports that gardaí had denied pursuing the vehicle were inaccurate and he had informed the Garda Press Office that gardaí had been in pursuit of the BMW and had witnessed the crash.

Sgt Collins said both families had raised a number of issues with him in relation to various rumours going around Dundalk but he said he had categorically refuted the allegations and told them there was no evidence to back them up.

Referring to claims that the BMW was specifically targeted by gardaí on the night he said he had checked the garda PULSE computer to see if there was any intelligence associated it with Shane Hoey.

He said it was not registered to him and the only reference was the traffic accident the details of which Sgt Collins said he had inputted himself.

Sgt Collins added that he did not believe that garda CCTV footage of the couple earlier in the night had focused in on them in particular as he said it was covering a junction at the top of a lane leading to a nightclub.

He also said he was satisfied that neither of the deceased was known to the garda operating the cameras at the time.

PSV Inspector Sean Little told the jury that the front two tyres were in good condition but the back two were excessively worn and in his opinion the vehicle was “dangerous, defective and unfit for use”. The inquest heard the rear tyres were worn down to the wire.

In returning a verdict of accidental death the jury said they felt that had the ABS been working properly the accident could have had a different outcome.

They added an inaccurate press release had caused undue grief to both families.

Solicitor Paul Tiernan, who acted on behalf of both families, said their sole purpose in pursuing the matter was to find the truth, as there had been various rumours including in accurate comments on websites and in some newspaper reports.