No prosecution over death of Waterford schoolgirl struck by wing mirror after getting off bus

First-year student was seriously injured when she was hit by the side mirror of a passing vehicle as she was dropped off by a school bus and died three months later, inquest told

Opening of an inquest into the young girl’s death at Dublin District Coroner’s Court heard she never regained consciousness after an accident near her home over three months earlier. 

No criminal prosecution is to arise out of the death of a young Co Waterford student who suffered fatal injuries after being struck by the wing mirror of a van as she got off a school bus, an inquest has heard.

Aisling Kennedy, 13, of Glasha, Ballymacarbry, Co Waterford, died at Temple Street Children’s Hospital in Dublin on July 12, 2022.

The opening of an inquest into the young girl’s death at Dublin District Coroner’s Court heard she never regained consciousness after an accident near her home over three months earlier.

Aisling — a first-year student at Presentation Convent in Clonmel — was seriously injured in a freak accident when she was hit by the side mirror of a passing vehicle as she was dropped off by a school bus in her home village of Ballymacarbry on April 7, 2022.

It is understood Aisling had leaned out from behind the bus when she was struck in the head by the wing mirror of a van.

She was rushed by ambulance to Waterford University Hospital and subsequently airlifted by helicopter to Temple Street in Dublin.

The deceased’s mother, Louise Kennedy, gave evidence of formally identifying her daughter’s body to gardaí in the mortuary of Temple Street hospital.

Traumatic brain injury

Coroner Cróna Gallagher said post-mortem results showed Aisling had died as a result of a traumatic brain injury arising from the incident three months earlier.

Inspector Mary T McCormack informed the hearing the DPP had directed there should be no prosecution in relation to the incident.

Aisling’s parents, Thomas and Louise Kennedy, confirmed to the coroner they were not appealing the DPP’s decision.

On that basis, Dr Gallagher said her officials would liaise with the family to fix a date for the full hearing of the inquest.

Addressing Aisling’s parents, the coroner offered them her sympathy on “the tragic loss of a young child in the prime of her life”. 

“I can only imagine what those three months in Temple Street were like,” Dr Gallagher said.