This article is from page 25 of the 2008-11-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 25 JPG
THE trial relating to the accident that claimed the life of father-of-four Howard Flannery was “a case of tragedy heaped upon tragedy” with a lot of emotion, according to the state prosecutor.
In his closing speech to the jury, Stephen Coughlan, BL, said the 1s- sue was “what caused the accused to veer off the road onto the hard shoul- der and onto the grass and strike Mr wtlioa wae
“There was nothing remarkable about his driving, until he began to
veer off the road. Dangerous driving is caused by negligence. If you are satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the accused drove dangerously, you must convict. If you decide he didn’t, you must acquit. Simple as that,’ he said.
“Nobody gets into a motor car intending to kill anybody, be it a motorist, a pedestrian or a cyclist, but dangerous driving is caused by negligence,” he told the jury of eight women and four men.
He said that Michael Dillon had put in a long, strenuous, 22-hour day the day before the accident and was tired.
He noted that medical examinations carried out on the accused after the accident concluded that the accident was “an unexplained event.”
‘The State is asking you to draw an inference that this unexplained event was caused by the fatigue which the accused was labouring under,’ he said. He said that Mr Dillon had been a tired driver and was slow to react.
However, in his closing speech last Thursday, Anthony Sammon, SC, for Michael Dillon, said the State’s in- ference that fatigue had been a factor was “slightly over-egging the pud- ding.” He said at no stage had it been
put to the accused by gardai that he had fallen asleep.
“Tt has been conjured up during this case. It wasn’t even told to you in the Opening (speech to the jury). The word ‘sleep’ wasn’t even mentioned in the opening,” he said.
“This is a difficult case because of the horror of a decent man, Mr Flannery, losing his life. The horrific consequences of that on his family, colossal. The pressures on my client and his family, colossal,” he said.
“Confronted by the emotional cliff face that hangs it all, you must not lose sight or develop any blindness
because of emotion,’ he urged the jury.
Judge Gerard Griffin told the jury it was important to note that the first mention of fatigue in the pros- ecution’s case had been during the cross-examination of Mr Dillon by Mr Coughlan. “It will be a matter for you which of the prosecution evi- dence you regard,’ the judge told the ury.
He told the jury if they found that the driving was careless rather than dangerous, it was open to them to find the accused guilty of careless driving.