Inquest into four deaths in car crash told vehicle moving at over 100km/h

A VERDICT of death by misadventure was returned in the case of a 17-year-old motorist and verdicts of accidental death were returned in the cases of three of his passengers who died when the car he was driving smashed into a ditch on the main Killarney to Rathmore Road in Co Kerry last August.

The inquest into the deaths of David Breen, his brother Kevin, his friend Brian Coffey and Áine Riordan heard evidence the silver Hyundai Ascent driven by David Breen was travelling at an estimated speed of between 99km/h and 111km/h when it crashed at Carrigeen some 6kms from Killarney on August 25th last.

The sole survivor of the crash, Darragh Jones from Farranfore, told the inquest how he, Brian Coffey, David Breen and Áine Riordan had been at a house party that night in Kilcummin and had returned to Killarney sometime after dawn had broken and had collected Kevin Breen at his home.

Brian Coffey had borrowed the car from Kyle O’Connor and they drove out towards Rathmore with Brian Coffey hitting high speeds before they stopped and he swopped with David Breen and they headed back in towards Killarney again at high speeds, said Mr Jones, who was 16 at the time of the accident.

“David Breen drove flat out, the car was hopping,” said Mr Jones who was sitting in the back seat behind the passenger’s seat. He told how he urged David Breen to slow down and then turned to Kevin Breen beside him and told him to put on his seat belt and the next thing he remembered was waking up in hospital.

Witness Jaroslav Kunert told how he was waiting for a bus to work when he heard a screech and saw a silver car round the bend from the Rathmore direction where it went into the left-hand margin, kicking up dust before ploughing into the ditch and coming to rest in a field.

Another witness, Trevor O’Connell, told how he heard a loud bang and ran from his house with his daughter to discover the badly damaged car and its five seriously injured occupants. They immediately called the emergency services, which were quickly on the scene.

Mark Brady of Kerry County Fire Brigade told how they found the car badly damaged and wedged against a tree. They were forced to use cutting equipment to free the occupants. David Breen, Kevin Breen and Áine Riordan were all pronounced dead at the scene while Brian Coffey died later in hospital.

The inquest heard evidence from car dealer John Fleming that he had given the car to a Kyle O’Connor while his own car was in for repair and it was up to Kyle O’Connor to arrange his own insurance for the vehicle. The car was due to go for an NCT test that day and was in good mechanical condition, he said.

Kyle O’Connor said he had been with Brian Coffey and the others at a party that night and Brian Coffey wanted him to drive him into Killarney. But he had said he wouldn’t and had put his car keys on the table. Brian Coffey had taken them and headed off with the car but he never gave him permission to do so.

The inquest heard evidence from PSV inspector Garda James O’Brien who said that he found evidence that all the occupants of the car except for the driver, David Breen, were wearing seat belts at the point of impact but that the car suffered severe damage with the roof and floor being deformed on impact.