Misadventure verdict at inquest into death of motorcyclist William Dunlop

A jury has returned a verdict of death by misadventure at the inquest into the death of William Dunlop, a leading figure in international motorsport, who was fatally injured during a practice run for a 2018 road race in north Co Dublin.

The finding was made at the end of a three-day inquest at Dublin District Coroner’s Court, which heard a Garda investigation concluded that the crash was “nothing other than an accident”.

Supt Edward Carroll told the hearing there was no suggestion of any criminality in relation to Mr Dunlop’s death.

An expert report commissioned by the deceased man’s family, which found his motorcycle was “too low to the ground”, was not admitted as evidence by coroner Cróna Gallagher. She said it seemed that suggestions made in the report that there might be something “inherently defective” with the vehicle would be more properly addressed in a different forum.

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Supt Carroll said the evidence collected from many witnesses as part of a “lengthy and complex investigation” pointed to a mechanical failure of Mr Dunlop’s motorcycle after a sump plug came off the vehicle. He said it resulted in oil spraying out on the rear wheel of the motorcycle which caused him to lose control.

Mr Dunlop (33) died when the crash occurred during a practice run for the Skerries 100 races on July 7th, 2018. The father of two, from Ballymoney, Co Antrim, was a son the late Robert Dunlop, who was killed in a racing crash, and a nephew of Joey Dunlop, who was fatally injured during a race in Estonia in 2000 - who were both well-know figures in motorsport.

William Dunlop had been competing in the annual races organised by the Loughshinny Motorcycle Supporters Club as a member of the Lisburn-based Mar-Train racing team, owned by Tim and Sonia Martin.

Bottomed out

The inquest previously heard evidence from witnesses who said they saw his Yamaha R1 superbike “bottom out” – when its belly pan, the lowest part of the vehicle’s frame which covers a sump designed to collect any leaking oil, hit the road surface on an incline on the course.

Mr Dunlop was pronounced dead at the scene from traumatic head injuries and a fracture to the top of his spine.

On the third and final day of the inquest, Supt Carroll said Mr Dunlop’s motorcycle had passed inspection by a race scrutineer before starting on the practice laps. He agreed with the coroner that motorcycle racing was dangerous and carried an element of risk.

David O’Brien, a Garda vehicle inspector who examined Mr Dunlop’s motorcycle, said he could not state definitively how long it might have taken for the sump plug to come loose. However, he believed it was more likely that it would have occurred if the motorcycle had bottomed out a few times, which could have happened over a number of laps.

The inquest had previously heard from other witnesses that Mr Dunlop was probably travelling at around 274km/h at the time of the accident. Garda Farrell ruled out either the road surface or Mr Dunlop’s driving actions as playing any role in the crash.

A ballistics expert, Det Sgt Shane Curran, who examined a sump plug found near the scene of the collision, said damage to the piece of equipment could be explained by a “bottoming out” incident.

Conflicts of evidence

In a closing submission, counsel for Mr Dunlop’s family, Ben O’Connor BL, said a finding of death by misadventure could be made as there were “serious conflicts of evidence” in relation to whether repairs and modifications had been made to the sump and belly pan. He argued that a verdict of death by misadventure was appropriate based on the evidence.*

A jury of six women and one man returned a verdict of death by misadventure by a six to one majority.

Addressing Mr Dunlop’s family, the coroner said it had been a very difficult case to hear with very complex evidence. She expressed regret that the inquest had not heard about Mr Dunlop’s role “as a Dad, partner, son, brother and friend who was well regarded and admired all over the world.”

*This article was amended on May 17th. It was incorrectly stated that counsel for Mr Dunlop’s family Ben O’Connor BL argued for a verdict of accidental death. In fact, he argued that a verdict of death by misadventure was appropriate based on the evidence. The error occurred in the editing process.