Fatal internal injuries
THE late Padraig Noone who was killed in the Castlebaldwin crash was given the last rites at the scene by the late Bishop of Elphin Christopher Jones.
Truck driver Kevin Cogan testified that he saw the late Bishop - a fellow Roscommon man - tend to the victim on the grassy embankment along the N4 on August 13th 2015.
Sligo Circuit Criminal Court heard also from motorist Colm Taheny who was one of the first on the scene at 11.20 that morning.
He described how he approached the JCB and saw the victim half trapped underneath.
“I knelt down beside him and held his hand and spoke to him to see if he could hear me but there was no response,” he told Judge Francis Comerford.
Gavin Meehan was one of the first fire officers at the scene at 11.40am and immediately covered Mr Noone’s remains with a sheet.
Later on, the then Assistant Chief Fire Officer with Leitrim County Council Noel O’Reilly stayed at the scene until midnight and facilitated a visit of the scene from the deceased’s family members.
Prosecuting Counsel Ms Orla Crowe SC, read out to the court a deposition from Dr Colm Loftus, a GP in Boyle.
He said he received a call to go to the scene from Gardaí at 12.55pm. He was met there by Sgt Gerry Curley who showed him the fatal victim partially trapped by the JCB.
He said he was “motionless with no signs of life.” He pronounced Padraig Noone dead at 1.18pm.
The remains were removed to Sligo University Hospital and identified there by the victim’s daughter, Elaine Noone.
An autopsy report from Dr Galen Kyurkchiev who carried out a post mortem examination of the deceased was also read out as he as since left the jurisdiction.
His findings were that Padraig Noone’s death was due to massive internal bleeding due to multiple internal injuries.
The father of two also sustained a fracture to his left arm, fractured ribs on both sides, a fractured left ankle, multiple left thigh fractures and pelvis fractures.
He sustained only minor lacerations to his head and there were no skull fractures.
Members of the Noone family were visibly upset in court while the evidence was read out.
The accused, truck driver Vlastimil Zachar of Connell Drive, Newbridge, sat with his head bowed, listening intently to his Czech interpreter translate the proceedings.
The trial is expected to hear further testimonies from medical expert witnesses for both the prosecution and defence this week.