Mayo inquest hears harrowing details of fatal collision

The harrowing details of a road traffic accident that claimed the lives of two young men were recounted at an inquest in Swinford last week.

Martin Murphy, aged 27, of Drum, Knock, and Stephen Brennan, aged 25, of Lismirrane, Swinford, were killed when their car was in a collision with a lorry at Facefield, Claremorris on February 1, 2023. The accident occurred on the N60 between Balla and Claremorris. 

Gda John Hughes told the inquest that the two young men were travelling in a Volkswagen Golf and they collided with a Volvo articulated tractor unit that was pulling an empty livestock trailer. The accident occurred shortly before midnight. 

Gda Hughes said he attended the scene and noted that the collision occurred approximately 100 metres past the Mossbrook junction on the Balla side of the N60. A truck was jackknifed around 50 to 70 metres from the collision point and facing Claremorris and he observed two to three people performing CPR on an occupant of the car. Using a torch, Gda Hughes could see a badly damaged vehicle in a nearby field and found the body of Martin Murphy nearby.

The garda said he spoke to the lorry driver, Christopher McKenna, from Co Tyrone, who had been on his way to Castlebar to pick up a trailer of pigs. Mr McKenna said he was travelling at 45kmph when he saw a car coming towards him at high speed and it seemed to be "soaring in the air and out of control". The lorry driver had no problem giving a breath sample and passed the breathalyser test. The garda noticed his hands were shaking and requested a paramedic treat him for shock. He was taken to an ambulance and treated.

Garda Oliver Whyte, of the Garda Roads Forensic Investigation Office in Galway, said the Volkswagen Golf crossed the lane into the path of the truck, which had started to move towards the verge before impact. The impact occurred within the truck lane, the truck then jackknifed and crossed into the opposite lane. The VW sustained catastrophic damage with the driver being thrown from the vehicle. It was not possible to say whether the driver was wearing a seatbelt nor was it possible to assess the speed of the car at the time of impact.

Eilish Corley, Manulla, Castlebar, said she had been driving behind the lorry at a normal steady pace for approximately three miles. It was very dark with little traffic but then all of a sudden she saw the impact of a car hitting the truck on the driver’s right side. She had not seen the car before the impact. There was a large bang, smoke, sparks and a grinding noise. She saw the lorry then veering from its correct lane to the incorrect side before entering the ditch. She did not see the car or where it went and thought the truck would topple over. 

Ms Corley, who is a nurse, called 999 and then assisted at the scene.

Christy Dunne, Monard, Mayo Abbey, Claremorris, recalled travelling at around 10.35pm from Balla to Monard, joining the N60 at Heathlawn Cross. He came to the road traffic lights which had a wait period of 175 seconds and put on the flashers on his car. Suddenly, at around 130 seconds, a vehicle overtook him even though the lights were against them. He could see the oncoming lights of another car, so the vehicle jammed on the brakes and started reversing at speed back towards him. He thought it would hit his car and heard a bang before the vehicle drove off. He spoke to a couple in an oncoming car who gave him the vehicle’s registration number and told him it was a silver Golf. He picked up parts of his wing mirror from the road, then continued home to Monard and reported the incident to gardaí in Castlebar at 11.52pm.

In a statement to the inquest, the lorry driver Christopher McKenna said he saw the lights of a car coming towards him on his side of the road and in a split second there was a bang. The car had been "all over the road zigzagging" and was "totally out of control" before it hit his vehicle. Mr McKenna said he had been a lorry driver for 17 years and had never had a crash before and wanted to clarify that he was travelling on the correct side of the road when the car drove into him.

Gda Michael Mullaney noted that a tachograph analysis showed the lorry drove more than 11 hours on the day of the accident. It was the garda’s opinion that the lorry driver had exceeded the maximum daily driving allowance by one hour and 43 minutes at the time of the crash.

Sgt Gabriel McLoughlin, vehicle inspector, said there was "massive damage to the front and chassis" of the Volkswagen Golf. He was satisfied the vehicle was roadworthy apart from the tread depth on the offside left rear wheel.

He also examined the lorry and trailer and found that the brakes on the semi-trailer failed the commercial vehicle roadworthiness test. He believed the vehicle was in a dangerously defective condition and posed a danger to the public when in motion.

Delivering his findings, coroner Pat O’Connor noted that the medical cause of death in both cases was multiple injuries sustained in a road traffic accident.

In delivering a verdict of accidental death, Mr O'Connor said there was "no evidence of misadventure or culpability before me".

"I could record an open verdict but don’t think that would be satisfactory or appropriate," he said.

The coroner then extended sincere sympathies to both families and praised Ms Corley for the great work she did at the scene.

Solicitor John Geary, representing the Murphy family, said the loss to both families was immeasurable and their hearts were truly broken. He extended deepest sympathy to the Brennan family on their immense loss and paid tribute to the emergency services and, in particular, Ms Corley, for their efforts on the night. The Murphy family also wished to thank Gda Pat Coen for his assistance throughout as well as neighbours and friends for their support.