Driver fined over falling load from trailer

The jury in a case where a woman was seriously injured by loose bars from a passing trailer found the driver not guilty of dangerous driving causing serious harm but guilty of failing to take adequate precaution with the load.

The eight women and four men of the jury at Cork Circuit Criminal Court took approximately three hours to return a verdict of not guilty in the case of Michael Herlihy, aged 38, of Derry, Rosscarbery, Co Cork, on the charge of dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm to Frances O’Driscoll on April 16, 2016, at Causeway, Rosscarbery. They found him guilty of failing to take adequate precaution to prevent a load from falling from a vehicle.

Tom Creed, defending, said in his closing speech: “I say the prosecution have not brought you [the jury] to the point where it was dangerous driving rather than careless driving. It is open to you to bring in a verdict of careless driving causing serious injury. I am not going to suggest you go below that. To do so would be an insult to your intelligence.”