Inquest into death of 4-year-old girl adjourned pending outcome of criminal proceedings today
AN inquest held at Sligo Coroner’s Court into the death of a four-yearold girl in Enniscrone was opened and adjourned after a brief hearing on Monday pending the outcome of forthcoming criminal proceedings. The inquest into the death of Alice Dunleavy at a caravan park in the seaside village on Friday, August 5, 2022, heard the driver of an SUV involved in a collision which resulted in the tragic death of fouryear-old Alice in Enniscrone last year will come before Sligo District Court today, Thursday.
“The driver of the vehicle Patrick Higgins is to be charged on Thursday arising out of the death of Alice,” Mr Keith O’Grady BL, instructed by solicitor for the Dunleavy family Ms Catherine Bourke, said to Sligo County Coroner Mr Eamon MacGowan.
The fatal collision happened in the Atlantic Caravan Park in Enniscrone on Friday August 5, 2022.
Inspector Pat Harney told the inquest that at 1.57pm that day Garda Michael Cunningham responded to a call about a collision in the caravan park involving a young child pedestrian and a green Subaru Forester SUV being driven by Patrick Higgins.
He said the incident was reported through to Ambulance Control. The child was said to be unresponsive. When paramedics arrived at the scene they attended to Alice and escorted her to the air ambulance a short distance away.
Alice was brought by helicopter to Sligo University Hospital (SUH) where the Ballina native was pronounced dead at 4.14pm.
Garda Orla Greavy preserved the scene at the caravan park and an incident room was set up at Ballymote Garda Station.
The Garda investigation, headed up by Superintendent Paraic Burke of Ballymote Garda Station, involved taking a large number of statements, viewing CCTV footage and a forensic collision examination of the scene and vehicle.
The investigation has now concluded and the DPP’s directions have come back to prosecute the driver, Patrick Higgins, who is from Northern Ireland.
Inspector Harney applied for an adjournment of Alice’s inquest pending the conclusion of the criminal proceedings.
The coroner Mr MacGowan read out a pathologist’s report from Dr Paul Hartell of SUH which stated the cause of death was “severe liver lacerations.”
Alice’s mother, Annmarie Dunleavy, spoke about her daughter being the “life and soul” of their family. The middle child of Annmarie and John Dunleavy’s three young girls, Alice was “such a bright and bubbly child” who had her own life, her own friends and loved sport. Ms Dunleavy said that while people sympathised with them, herself and her husband sympathised with Alice because she was deprived of her future, “her future is gone.”
“It’s about Alice,” she told the inquest.
The coroner then adjourned the inquest pending the outcome of the forthcoming proceedings against Mr Higgins.