CRASH VICTIM SAYS LOSS OF HUSBAND IS UNBEARABLE
SLIGO MAN TO BE SENTENCED THIS WEEK OVER FATAL CRASH IN WHICH PENSIONER (84) DIED
A 57-year-old man will be sentenced on Thursday after pleading guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of an elderly man described by his wife of 57 years as the centre of her family and whose tragic and sudden death has left a void which cannot be filled.
In a moving Victim Impact Statement read to the sentencing hearing of Gerry Higgins of Aclare at Sligo Circuit Court, Mrs Marie Flanagan (78) told how she and her late husband, Thomas (84) were inseparable and that she had suffered extraordinary loss and bereavement as a result of his untimely death in the head-on collision on St Patrick’s Day in 2015 on the Sligo to Ballina Road close to Ballisodare.
Higgins was completely on the wrong side of the road when his van struck the car being driven by Mrs Flanagan.
“I miss his company each and every day and I have felt very lonely since I lost him,” Mrs Flanagan said of her husband. . Higgins was taken into custody for sentencing on Thursday.
A57-YEAR- OLD man will be sentenced next week on a charge of dangerous dr iv i ng c a us i ng t he death of an 84- year- old man on St Patrick’s Day i n 2015. Gerry Higgins of McGuinness Court, Aclare was taken into custody at Sligo Circuit Court and was also banned from driving for life after Judge Keenan Johnson said he was of the view he wasn’t a fit person to hold a driving licence.
The court heard that an elderly couple from Ballinamallard, County Fermanagh, Thomas and Marie Flanagan (78) were on their way to their holiday home in Enniscrone when Higgins who was driving a Peugeot Partner Van came around a bend completely on his wrong side of the road and crashed into them at around 12.30pm at Lugnadeffa, Ballisodare on the main Sligo to Ballina road.
Higgins, a diabetic, was slumped over in the passenger side of his van as he rounded the bend. The force of the impact pushed the Toyota Auris the Flanagans had been in over a wall and into a drain.
Higgins whose erratic driving had been noted by a cyclist some minutes earlier told Gardaí he had no explanation for the crash. He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death and a second charge of dangerous driving and will be sentenced on Thursday week.
The defendant admitted he had a can of cider earlier that morning at a pub in the Dromore West area and had also pulled in to take a nap before resuming his journey to Letterkenny to see his partner. Blood tests showed negative for alcohol in his system.
The court also heard he had been on his mobile phone in the lead up to the crash to his partner but it was stated in his defence that the call had been concluded.
Sergeant Derek Butler confirmed with Ms Dara Foynes BL instructed by Mr Hugh Sheridan State Solicitor (prosecuting) that the collision took place about five and half kilometres from Ballisodare. Mr Flanagan was a front seat passenger in the car driven by his wife.
At about 12.10 pm a cyclist, Tom Meehan had been overtaken by a red Peugeot van travelling towards Sligo near Templeboy Church which was way over on its incorrect side of the road, so much so, that an oncoming car had to almost come to a stop to avoid a collision. The van cut back to its correct side just in time.
The cyclist went off around a nearby mountain before rejoining the main road and he came across the aftermath of the collision.
A driver who was travelling behind the Flanagans later told Gardaí that the silver coloured Toyota with a Northern Ireland registration had been travelling slowly and cautiously with the driver braking at bends when there was no need to.
The witness stated that a red van came around a left hand bend on its incorrect side and the driver was slumped over in the passenger seat. The impact put the Flanagan’s car off of the road while the van bounced back and came to a halt in the middle of the road. The driver was still slumped in the passenger side.
Mrs Flanagan later stated the impact was like a flash and their car had been spun around and onto its side in a stream. Ms Foynes said Mr Flanagan suffered catastrophic injuries including a spinal cord one and was probably dead after the impact.
PSV Inspector P J Gallagher found no defects on either vehicle. The red van was fully on its incorrect side at the time of the impact. The speed of the van at the time could not be determined. The road surface was good and conditions were also good.
CCTV from the area was sought and viewed and it was noted the defendant had gone to a pub for breakfast between 11.24 and 11.42 earlier that morning where he also had a can of cider.
Higgins, who was also injured in the collision, was arrested on August 27 th 2015 when recovered and interviewed for n hour. He stated that he got up at 9.30m that morning before going to Ballina for diesel. He then went to Muddy Burns for breakfast.
He then intended going to Letterkenny to see his partner but felt tired due to his diabetes and stopped to have a nap at Dromore West before resuming his journey. He didn’t recall a lot of the accident, only the bang.
Sgt Butler said the defendant had received a call at 12.16pm from his partner which lasted almost two and a half minutes.
Ms Foynes said Higgins was asked if he had fallen asleep or had some kind of blackout and he replied that he had been feeling okay but that he could not give an account of what happened and that remained the position.
Higgins, who appeared in court on crutches, took the witness stand to say that he was very sorry over what happened.
“I didn’t mean to go to kill the man. If I could swap places I would. I’m very sorry to the Flanagan family. I can’t give an explanation for what happened that day, I just can’t. I wish I was there and Thomas was here, God Rest Him,” he said.
He told his defence counsel Colm Smyth SC with Mr Eddie Henry, solicitor that there was definitely no drink involved in the accident.
Higgins said he would be on crutches for the rest of his life, that he just couldn’t walk and that he wasn’t pretending. He spent his time at home and suffered flashbacks and nightmares. He didn’t sleep properly.
Judge Keenan Johnson put it to the defendant that he thought he could not recall the accident and Higgins replied that he could only remem-
ber an ambulance crew member putting an oxygen mask on his face and the aftermath of the crash. He didn’t remember anything about passing a cyclist either shortly before the crash.
Mr Smyth said the defendant continued to suffer and was likely to do so into the future. It would help the situation if he knew himself what had happened to cause the crash.
Mr Smyth stressed that the mobile phone call had ended before the accident.
A doctor who had seen the defendant was asked about his medical condition and he could not definitely say his diabetes didn’t cause a blackout.
Mr Smyth said the accident was more likely to have been caused by a compromise in his health. Some seven kilometres before the accident the defendant had been seen on his wrong side of the road when passing the cyclist and then once more before the fatal crash.
“We know that he felt tired that morning and that he had pulled in for a snooze,” he said, adding that there were no aggravating features apart from being on the wrong side of the road.
The collision was not caused by speed or alcohol but more likely was attributable to his medical condition, said Mr Smyth.
Judge Johnson said it was most unsatis- factory that there wasn’t an explanation for the accident thought this was no one’s fault.
The Judge said the defendant clearly fell asleep or had a blackout. He was seen slumped over his van.
“It seems to me that he was in a sleepy state driving and the first incident seen by the cyclist was indicative of that and there would have been an element of culpability for that in that he didn’t stop after the first incident,” said Judge Johnson.
Mr Smyth said it must be horrific for the defendant not knowing how it happened. He would forever be in that state and questions will remain. Mr Smyth pleaded that the defendant had pleaded guilty and had co-operated.
Judge Johnson said it was clearly an horrific tragedy, in particular for the Flanagan family. He accepted the defendant did not intentionally go out to cause the fatal collision. He ordered a medical report and probation report for a sentencing hearing on Thursday week, July 27 th.
It was inevitable that a custodial sentence would be imposed he said, remanding Higgins in custody. The court also heard he had a previous conviction for being drunk in charge of a vehicle, an incident which occurred in 2012 but which was only dealt with in the past couple of weeks due to a legal challenge.
I WAS MARRIED TO MY HUSBAND FOR 57 YEARS AND WE WEREALWAYS TOGETHER. IHAVE EXPERIENCED EXTRAORDINARY LOSS AND BEREAVEMENT AS A RESULT OFHIS UN TIMELY DEATH AND HIS ABSENCE. I MISS HIS COMPANY EACH AND EVERY DAY AND I HAVE FELT VERY LONELY