Court hears 999 call from woman killed during Garda pursuit

THE trial of a man accused of causing a fatal crash heard recordings yesterday which ended in a scream from the woman who died.

The evidence was the second of two 999 calls by a passenger in the car driven by the defendant.

It was made minutes before the crash on the N2 south of Balrath in Co Meath.

Michael Collins has pleaded not guilty to a charge of dangerous driving causing the death of Jillian Thornton on May 27, 2016, at Waterside Great, Duleek.

The 44-year-old, of St Finian’s Park in Drogheda, Co Louth, is defending himself at Trim Circuit Court.

He also denied two charges of endangerment, 12 charges of dangerous driving and a charge of driving under the influence of an intoxicant on the same date.

The fatal crash followed a 25-minute Garda pursuit through Drogheda and east Meath. It began when a Mitsubishi Colt failed to stop for officers after driving the wrong way on a roundabout.

Gardai told the court the accused had driven through several red lights, travelled on the wrong side of the road without lights, almost collided with other vehicles and forced a number of patrol cars on to the hard shoulder.

In the first 999 recording played to the jury the caller said she and a friend had accepted a lift from a man who claimed he would bring them to a festival. However, they were now involved in a high-speed Garda pursuit.

She went on: “The driver says if you don’t call off the chase he’s going to put us in the ditch.” When the officer taking the call advised her to ask the driver to pull in she said he refused, adding: “He’s not listening to us. He’s going to put us in the ditch.”

In the second 999 recording a garda told the caller to make sure she and her friend had their seat belts on and urged her to tell the driver to stop.

The woman repeatedly said he was refusing and asked officers to pull out of the chase. The call then ended with a scream.

The court also saw CCTV of part of the pursuit in which a dark car was shown travelling through the centre of Drogheda on the wrong side of the road.

It heard the Colt split in two when it collided with

TRIM COURT YESTERDAY

a Volkswagen Passat. The defendant was found in the driver’s seat with a young woman next to him. The driver of the Passat said the car had come sliding towards him without any lights on.

Describing the crash scene as horrendous, Sgt Catherine Byrne said Ms Thornton, who had been in the back of the Colt, was found unresponsive on the opposite side of the road.

Gda Dessie Mcgarry was driving the lead patrol car for much of the chase. He used a defibrillator on the victim and rejected a claim by the defendant that he should have waited for paramedics.

When Collins asked the officer where he was while this was happening, Gda Mcgarry replied the defendant had been sitting in the driver’s seat in the crashed Colt shouting obscenities at officers.

The trial continues.

He’s not listening to us. He’s going to put us in a ditch JILLIAN THORNTON