Crash between bus and e-scooter had 'devastating consequences'
Gilbert Collins and Avuzwa Idris were returning from an early morning gym session when the e-scooter they were riding was hit by a bus on the Cork Road in Waterford at about 2am on June 27, 2024.
A “tragic case with devastating consequences” is how a crash between a bus and an e-scooter which killed two teenage boys in Waterford was described by the prosecution in court.
The defence pleaded with the jury not to make it more tragic by convicting the bus driver, Adrian Doyle, who had “already suffered enough".
Gilbert Collins, aged 15, and Avuzwa Sampo, aged 17, were returning from an early morning gym session when the e-scooter they were riding was hit by a bus on the Cork Road in Waterford at about 2am on June 27, 2024.
Bus driver Mr Doyle, aged 43, has pleaded not guilty to dangerous driving causing their deaths.
Prosecuting barrister Niall Storan, in his closing speech to the jury on Thursday, said that it was “a tragic and difficult case to sit on a jury for".
But he told them they must leave their sympathy aside and coldly consider the evidence.
“We did not suggest that he [Mr Doyle] was drunk or tired,” Mr Storan said.
“His employer described him as a decent worker. But a careful, reliable, decent man can still drive in a way that is dangerous.”
Mr Doyle was driving at 77km/h in a 50km/h zone when he hit the teenagers, Mr Storan said.
It took him 15 seconds to stop because of the speed, he said. The bus had been proven to be in good working order.
“Speed is a matter of choice,” he said.
Although the teenagers were on an unlit scooter at 2am, this did not excuse a driver who should have been more careful, Mr Storan said.
Speed limits exist for a reason, he said.
A witness in the case had seen the scooter earlier that night and passed it safely, Mr Storan said.
“I suggest it is very clear that the driving caused the deaths.
"This is a tragic case with devastating consequences — but you have to focus on the evidence."
Defence barrister Kate Egan, described the case as "an appalling tragedy".
“Nothing we do in this room can help those victims, nothing can bring them back," Ms Egan told the jury.
“But this man here [Mr Doyle] is fighting for his life,” she said.
“He needs an acquittal in this case. Don’t think Adrian Doyle has not suffered if he is acquitted today.
“He sees that CCTV [of the impact] every time he closes his eyes.
“He is suffering and has been punished plenty."
The accident was “unavoidable”, Ms Egan said, and that was “the real tragedy here".
“What is important is what caused the moment of impact and I would suggest what caused it is the scooter turning in front of the bus. He could not have avoided this.
“This is a very tragic case and I ask you not to make it more tragic.”
Mr Doyle voluntarily gave an interview to gardaí, including to Detective Garda Paul O’Flynn, after the crash.
The morning of the fatal crash, he arrived to work early, he said.
Driving conditions were good. There was no traffic. He was focused on going to his first pick up stop on his route to Dublin Airport when there was a sudden impact, he had told gardaí.
He thought he had hit an animal, he said.
He stopped the bus and rang 999 when he saw the boys on the road.
"Everything went slow after that," Mr Doyle said.
He was “shocked” to find that he had been driving at 77km/h. He had arrived to work early and was in no hurry, he said.
"There was a straight road ahead, I was focused, in the zone," he said.
When asked by gardaí if he accepted that his speed had contributed to the fatal crash, Mr Doyle said: “I still say that they [the deceased boys] were in the wrong.”
Although he accepted that if he had been going slower he would have had more time to react, he said it would still have had the same outcome.
“It all happened so fast, I had no chance," Mr Doyle said.
“It was so dark, they had no lights, I could not see them.”
On Friday, Judge Eugene O’Kelly will charge the jury of nine men and three women and they will then begin their deliberations.
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