Motorist involved in fatal collision is put off the road for two years

THE GRIEF and pain of a family who lost their husband, father and grandfather were laid bare last week in Carlow Circuit Court when victim impact statements were read out by the family of Willie Anderson (66) of Ardattin, who died following a traffic accident four years ago.

Victim impact statements by the Anderson family including daughter Laura, granddaughter Hollie and Willie's siblings Georgie and Sam, were read out in court when Jeffrey O’Donoghue (34) from Tullow pleaded guilty to a charge of careless driving.

The charge arose after Mr O’Donoghue’s car collided with Mr Anderson’s motorbike at The Mullawn, Tullow on 3 October 2020, with Mr Anderson subsequently passing away in hospital later that evening.

Judge Eugene O’Kelly also heard that the Anderson family suffered a second devastating loss during this summer when Mr Anderson’s son Brian (41) died in a motorbike accident in July.

In a victim impact statement the family stated that their lives were ‘intertwined with Willie’s’ and that the family felt ‘a heavy sense of anguish that never goes away’. They stated that   Brian had ‘hoped to see justice done for his father’, but he didn’t live to see that, and how loved Willie was in the biking community.

Hollie Anderson said that her grandfather’s loss had ‘devastated their lives’ and that ‘his death is like a hole that will never be filled’ and ‘the crash took away our sense of security’.

Laura Anderson in her statement said that she ‘knew that the accident wasn’t deliberate and that it was driver error’ and that was the only way that she could cope with what had happened to her father. She also said that she could no longer work in her old job, where she took 999 calls for the garda patrol room, because it was too traumatic for her. She also said that as her brother Brian lay dying, she promised him that their family would see justice done for their father. She also said that the day her father died, her ‘life ended and now I just survive’.

The court heard that Willie's wife Judy Anderson lost her carer when Mr Anderson died and that there have been financial implications for the family because of his death.

Garda Philip Knowles led the investigation into the road traffic collision between Mr O’Donoghue’s Audi and Mr Anderson’s Kawasaki 750 motorbike on 3 October 2020.

He said that he was called to the scene at The Mullawn just after 3pm, where he saw Mr Anderson lying on the road, with Mr Anderson’s son arriving at the scene soon afterwards to comfort his father. He continued that the fire service worked on Mr Anderson before an air ambulance brought him to St James’s Hospital, Dublin, where he later died at about 8pm.

State prosecutor Niall Storan led Garda Knowles through the evidence in the case, including garda reports about the scene of the accident. The court heard that there were no visible obstructions where the accident happened, that the road surface was dry and that there were scratch marks on the road made by the impact of the bike. The report also said that both the motorbike and the car were in very good condition and that skid marks on the road pointed to a ‘low speed impact’ between them.

The court also heard the statement that Mr O’Donoghue gave to the gardaí after the accident. It said that Mr O’Donoghue had been in Tullow doing some shopping with his wife Laura and that they were going to visit a friend so they were approached the t-junction at the Ouragh Road. Mr O’Donoghue said that he slowed down, stopped, saw no traffic and was making a right hand turn when his wife shouted out to him before he heard an impact on the car. The court heard that he got out of the car and saw Mr Anderson lying on the road, so he rang an ambulance and gardaí. He also took off his sweater to use as a cushion under Mr Anderson’s head.

A pathology report was also presented in court, in which it was found that Mr Anderson sustained fractured ribs and internal bleeding, consistent with a road traffic accident, while he also had severe coronary disease.

Judge Eugene O’Kelly heard some details about Mr Anderson’s funeral, which took place during Covid restrictions so friends in the motorbike fraternity organised a memorial bike run when restrictions were lifted, which was attended by hundreds of bikers. He also heard that the family felt like they were “in limbo” waiting for the court case and that Mr O’Donoghue had neither offered his condolences or an apology for what happened.

Garda Knowles agreed with Philip Sheahan SC that Mr O’Donoghue had cut across the road in front of Mr Anderson and that there were no other aggravating factors other than carelessness. Garda Knowles said that there was no speeding or alcohol involved and that the car wasn’t defective.

Mr Sheahan also addressed the matter of how long it took the case to be heard. He said that the Covid pandemic played a factor in the delay and that the case wasn’t fully ready until May this year. The court also heard that Mr O’Donoghue had originally been charged with a much more serious offence but that it had been reduced to a charge of careless driving, which had been explained to the Anderson family.

Mr Sheahan said that Mr O’Donoghue offered the family a “fulsome and complete apology” and said that his client had been advised that the “appropriate response was not to attend the funeral and not to reach out to the family”.

“Rightly or wrongly, an apology was not proffered (until today),” said Mr Sheahan, “but not a day goes by that Mr O’Donoghue does not think about the effect his actions have had”. He continued that his client was “entirely remorseful” and apologised again on his behalf.

Mr Sheahan then handed in several letters to Judge O’Kelly, including one from his wife Laura and another from Rathvilly GAA Club. He also told Judge O’Kelly that his client “had led a blameless life” and that “if he could go back and erase his actions he would, but he can’t”.

“He has to live with that for the rest of his life,” said Mr Sheahan.

On sentencing the defendant, Judge O’Kelly said that Mr Anderson “died as a consequence of being in a collision” when Mr O’Donoghue “turned into his path” that day and that it was too late for Mr Anderson to take evasive action.

He said that “careless driving can have devastating and catastrophic consequences, as it did in this case”. He also said that the defendant “did not set out to cause hurt to the Anderson family”, but for those grieving, it must be “very difficult to understand”.

Judge O’Kelly also addressed the lack of apology to the family, saying that Mr O’Donoghue’s insurance company would have advised him not to contact the family because of its impact on any court case.

He said that Mr O’Donoghue had no previous convictions and that this was a “first-time offence with catastrophic consequences”.

He then convicted and fined Mr O’Donoghue €2,500 and disqualified him from driving for two years.