Corkwoman denies dangerous driving causing death of daughter, 4
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.
Mr McCarthy said: “As it approached the junction at high speed, it came out behind another vehicle that was about to turn left, the van went inside that vehicle, mounted the kerb or grassy bank, turned over into the mouth of the side road. In the course of this, something was seen to come out of the van. Tragically, that turned out [to be] the little girl who was killed.”
He said the fact of the fatality did not, of itself, prove that the driving was dangerous.
The first witness, Donal McCarthy, driver of a maroon Skoda Octavia, was coming from Cork and said he indicated to turn left at the junction for Grenagh.
“When I was facing the picnic area, nothing was very close to me. I was proceeding along the filter lane. I heard a screech of brakes from behind me. There was a white van coming at high speed behind me.
“I thought it was going to hit me. I tried to go a small bit faster. The next thing I realised, the van was inside me [on the left side] on the grass verge. It hit the bank beside me. It turned over. It turned over two times, maybe more. There was something thrown from the van. Something flew out of the van. I realised fairly quickly it was a child. I got out of the car. I just froze. There was people coming from all directions.”
James O’Mahony, defending, asked Mr McCarthy if he was sure he indicated because he had not mentioned it the following day in his statement to gardaí. Mr McCarthy said he was certain.
Tadhg Dorgan was driving from the Mallow direction with his mother Irene in the front seat. He said: “It was a lovely, hot, fabulous day. I could see a white van fairly in the distance driving erratically, veering from side to side, zig-zagging on the road. I stopped and pulled in to the left-hand side. I could see cars swaying left and right to avoid it.
“I could see a maroon car. The van all of a sudden went inside it, went out of control, hit the embankment. There was a huge plume of dust. I then saw it turned twice in the air and appeared to end up on the slip road.
“During the rotation, I saw something fly in the air. I did not know until afterwards that unfortunately it was the child. We jumped out of the car and ran across the road. My mother ran to deal with the girl… It was a scene of devastation and hysteria.”
Irene Dorgan, a qualified radiographer, thought the child might have had spinal injuries and she cradled her to support her head. There was petrol on the ground and dust in the air. She checked for a pulse but found none. There was blood coming from the nose, mouth, and ears of the child.
The trial continues.
