Corkwoman denies dangerous driving causing death of daughter, 4

A woman has gone on trial on a charge of dangerous driving causing the death of her own four-year-old daughter. Witnesses, it has been claimed, saw a van hitting a kerb, spinning twice through the air, and the child being thrown out on to the road.

Melissa Delaney, of 5 Radharc Na Fia, Convent Rd, Doneraile, Co Cork, pleaded not guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court yesterday to the single charge of dangerous driving causing the death of Kathleen O’Brien, aged 4, on July 13, 2013, at Kilmona, Blarney.

Donal McCarthy, prosecuting, gave Judge Donagh McDonagh and a jury an outline of the anticipated evidence. He alleged that at around 4pm on July 13, 2013, at the Grenagh junction on the Cork-Mallow Rd, the van containing the defendant, her husband, and their two young daughters was coming from the Cork side.