This article is from page 3 of the 2006-05-23 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
A 22-YEAR-OLD man has been acquitted of dangerous driving causing the death of a Kilrush man in west Clare two years ago.
Mark O’Gorman, of Woodfield Drive, Kilrush, pleaded not guilty to dangerous driving, causing the death of Gary Cotter (20), at Moyasta, Kilrush, at around 5am on April 11, 2004.
Stephen Coughlan, SC for the prosecution said it was the State’s case that the accused’s car, a silver Ford Focus, left the road and became airborne, as it travelled from Kilkee to Kilrush.
It travelled 11 metres and struck a gate pillar. Mr Coughlan said the car was travelling at around 66 mph.
“The State’s case is based on speed, nothing more. The speed at which he was travelling constituted dangerous driving,” said the barrister.
One taxi driver, who arrived on the scene, told the court that the accused said to him, “I killed him,” and “A cat crossed the road and I tried to avoid it.”
The court heard that gardaí who investigated the accident did not detect any smell of intoxication from the accused’s breath.
Two young Dublin girls who met the accused on the day of the deceased’s funeral told the trial that he admitted to them that he was speeding.
“Mark told us he was speeding on the night of the accident and he was going to tell the gardaí the truth. The last time he looked at the speedometer, it was 70. It could have gone higher or lower than that,” said one girl.
Sergeant Colm Finn, a trained collision investigator, attended the scene of the accident more than a year after.
He said that after rounding a bend, the car travelled on the incorrect side of the road, before colliding with a pillar.
The accused’s barrister John Edwards SC put it to Sgt Finn, “You cannot find an obvious explanation for this accident,” and he replied, “No.”
Mr Edwards told the jury the case was tragic for both the Cotter family and the accused.
He said it was “reasonable to infer” the car was travelling in excess of the speed limit, but that it was not “grossly” in excess of it.
“The question is was it dangerous to drive at 66 mph on a straight stretch of road on a national secondary route? I say to you that it wasn’t,” he said.
He said the State did not prove the accused drove dangerously.
The jury returned a verdict of not guilty, and also decided the accused was not guilty of careless driving.