Crash death accused said he was asleep in a field at time, court told
THE trial of a man accused of manslaughter by standing in a road and causing a car to swerve has heard transcripts of police interviews in which he insisted he was not the cause of the crash.
Jonathan Ferguson (30) of Elm Park, Moneymore, had been on his stag do on the evening of the alleged incident.
He denies unlawfully killing Bernie McNicholl (inset) during the early hours of April 12, 2015.
She was a front seat passenger in a car that struck a tree on the Moneymore Road.
Its driver, Denise Mackle, said she had to swerve to avoid hitting a man she said was standing in the middle of the unlit road, with his arms out.
Yesterday, a police officer who attended the scene spoke at the trial in Dungannon Crown Court, revealing that he found Ferguson holding his phone a short way from the scene, noting him to be “calm, not overly intoxicated and conversing coherently”.
Ferguson told the officer that he had fallen asleep in a field and asked: “Why are there so many police?”
The court was told the defendant had consumed 10-20 pints and bottles of beer, between five and 10 glasses of spirits and five or so shots while out with friends.
An inspection of Ferguson’s mobile phone use revealed seven calls from between 2.17am and 2.40am. The collision happened at around 2.35am.
The prosecution contend this evidence was inconsistent with his claims to have been “asleep in a field” before the incident.
During a police interview when it was put to him that the driver described a person standing on the road, he replied: “It looks bad, but it wasn’t me.”
He accepted being in the area at the time of the collision, but insisted he was asleep.
Challenged on why his phone showed outgoing calls, Ferguson said: “They could have been ‘pocket’ calls. I’m just speculating.”
In response to further questioning, he replied: “As far as I’m concerned I wasn’t in the crash. I wasn’t involved in any crash. I certainly wasn’t the cause of the crash.”
The trial continues.