Garda on Offaly surveillance duty hit woman at pedestrian crossing

A GARDA on surveillance duty knocked down a woman at a roundabout in Birr, Tullamore District Court heard.

William Stephens(40), Gurteen, Arva, Co Cavan, denied a charge of careless driving at Drumbane, Birr on September 21 last year when he appeared before Judge Andrew Cody.

Sergeant Joanne Martin told the court she received a report of a road traffic collision at 10.50am and when she went to the Tesco roundabout in Birr she met a female pedestrian who gave her name as Lorraine Kearns and said she had been hit by a car as she was crossing the pedestrian crossing.

Sergeant Martin said the woman stated her leg was sore and after going home first with her family she then went to the emergency department at Tullamore Hospital.

The sergeant said she also spoke to the driver of a 2017 Peugeot 308, a garda who was on duty at the time of the collision.

Sergeant Martin also gave evidence of receiving a prepared statement and then taking a statement from Lorraine Kearns in which she said she was walking home to Townsend Street and saw no traffic coming from either direction at the crossing near the roundabout.

She was then struck by a car which had been going in the Riverstown direction and she was propelled into the air and onto the bonnet and road.

The man said the sun had dazzled him. Ms Kearns said she was in shock and extreme pain and an x-ray revealed she had a leg fracture on a shin bone.

In a voluntary cautioned statement, the accused man said on the morning in question, a Sunday, he was driving an unmarked car on his own when he collided with a pedestrian.

He said a low lying sun affected his vision and he had slowed down to a crawl and checked to his right and turned left and then saw the pedestrian after moving a few yards.

After the accident he spoke to the woman and rang the gardai himself. He also contacted the woman the next day.

The man's statement said there was no warning sign at the roundabout about the pedestrian crossing, there were no flashing lights or sign at the crossing.

He said he'd been driving for 22 years and for 15 years had driven garda vehicles and never had an accident.

When he looked at photographs of where the collision occurred Judge Cody noted the statue of the hurler marking where the first All-Ireland was played and said he knew the spot.

He said if someone was driving west the sun would be rising behind in the east in the morning.

Replying to defence counsel Niall Flynn, BL, Sergeant Martin confirmed the defendant was with a surveillance unit that day.

She agreed there was no evidence of speed on the part of the accused, and no skid marks, and he was fully co-operative with the gardai.

Sergeant Martin also agreed it would be a matter of a second or two before you would be on the crossing after coming from the roundabout.

Mr Flynn said the accused man had brought €1,500 to court as a gesture and towards Ms Kearns' expenses.

Making an application to Judge Cody, Mr Flynn said it was accepted by the gardai that there were no aggravating features and the close proximity of the crossing to the roundabout was a contributory factor, resulting in there not being enough time for evasive action to be taken.

The accused was simply going about his duties and there was not a scintilla of evidence of careless or reckless driving.

It was an accident and Mr Stephens had not seen the woman because of the proximity of the pedestrian crossing and the low lying sun.

Judge Cody said he was satisfied there was a prima facie case for a careless driving prosecution and he would not be dismissing the matter.

In his own evidence William Stephens said that while he would not normally be on duty in Offaly or Birr very often, on that day he was monitoring a vehicle there.

There was a vehicle in front of him and he saw it turn right to go in the Borrisokane direction at the roundabout and two of his colleagues in two other vehicles continued after the target.

The defendant said he turned around and went back towards the roundabout to take the first left and as he approached it he saw three vehicles, the third of which was a colleague of his.

He made eye contact with that colleague and was doing no more than 50km/h when because of the orientation of the sun it seemed to come into his view and temporarily blinded him and he did not see the pedestrian.

Cross-examined by Sandra Mahon, Offaly state solicitor, Mr Stephens accepted that Ms Kearns was out for a walk and had been struck by his car after she had checked for traffic.

In a final submission to the court, Mr Flynn said the crossing was very close to the exit of the roundabout and the driver's eyesight seemed to be slightly impaired but there was no evidence of intentional careless driving or recklessness.

Convicting the driver, Judge Cody said the evidence met the threshold for careless driving because there was a clear view coming from the roundabout but the defendant was momentarily distracted by operational matters and made eye contact with a colleague.

Asked if she wanted to give a victim impact statement, Ms Kearns said her walking had been affected and she had pain in her back which an MRI showed was the result of a fracture. She had continual hospital visits, did strength and conditioning.

Imposing a fine of €250 with no disqualification, Judge Cody said it was a case of a man working, doing his duty and serving the state in a lawful way. The man was given three months to pay the fine.

(Funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme)