Man from Mayo faces retrial for dangerous driving

A man whose conviction for careless driving was quashed after doubts were raised about the jury’s majority verdict faces a retrial.

Brendan Hegarty, aged 51 from Bangor, Erris, Co Mayo, had stood trial on a charge of dangerous driving causing serious injury on the N59 at Quignalecka, Ballina, on October 14, 2013.

A jury at Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court found Mr Hegarty not guilty of dangerous driving but guilty of careless driving causing serious injury. He was fined €5,000 and disqualified from driving for 12 months.

Hegarty sought to appeal his conviction on whether the necessary statutory procedures for majority jury verdicts were observed and counsel for the DPP, Paul Reynold’s BL, subsequently advised the Court of Appeal that the DPP would not be standing over the conviction.

Yesterday, Mr Justice George Birmingham said there was sufficient doubt over the majority verdict such that the prosecution could not stand over the conviction. It was accordingly quashed.

Mr Justice Birmingham said that, ordinarily where a conviction was quashed, one would expect a retrial and that rule should apply in this case. Accordingly, Mr Justice Birmingham, who sat with Mr Justice Michael Peart and Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan, ordered a retrial.