‘Wrong lift in the wrong car on the wrong night’: Inquest into man's car crash death

A musician who died in a car crash from which the driver fled, "took the wrong lift, in the wrong car on the wrong night", a coroner said.

Taidhg Burke, 32, a bass player with emerging Cork band, The Calvinists, was a back-seat passenger in a car that crashed at Bridge St, Bantry, Co Cork, on October 20, 2013.

Mr Burke was “a very talented young man and an accomplished musician,” coroner Frank O’Connell said. “Tragically, he took the wrong lift, in the wrong car on the wrong night.”

Nine people received a new lease of life after Mr Burke’s organs were donated following his death, two days after the accident, at Bantry General Hospital.

He died of severe head injuries, including skull fractures and excessive bleeding on the brain, according to assistant State pathologist Dr Margot Bolster.

Mr Burke, of Moulakieve, Bantry, Co Cork, was one of three occupants in the car that crashed at around 4am. Earlier, Mr Burke and his band had played at the afters of a wedding in Kenmare, before returning to Bantry and going to a nightclub.

Witness Kevin Spillane said: “The car passed us, a short time later, within 30 seconds, we heard a bang.

“I saw a guy not far from the car, he was standing there, rubbing his face. As I got nearer, he headed off towards town.

“I saw a guy inside the back of the car. Emergency services asked me to check, he was unconscious but he was breathing.”

Calvinists band mate and witness, Darragh Coakley, said he spoke to front-seat passenger Tom Ward at 4.12am.

“He was up at the library on his own and didn’t know where everyone went. He sounded fairly drunk on the phone. In hindsight, it was concussion.”

Both Mr Ward and Mr Coakley woke up at a flat in town to a “load of missed calls” on their phones.

“Tom genuinely didn’t know he’d been in an accident,” Mr Coakley said.

Mr Ward was subsequently treated in hospital for head injuries.

At Cork District Court last June, driver Aidan McCarthy from Durrus, was sentenced to three years in prison with one year suspended after he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of Taidhg Burke and driving with excess alcohol at Bridge St, Bantry, on October 20, 2013.

Mr McCarthy had attempted to remove the licence plates from his car before departing the scene, leaving his injured friend in the car.

The jury at the inquest returned a verdict of accidental death.

Mr Burke’s father, Noel Burke, thanked gardaí for their help and courtesy throughout the duration of the case.