THE DEATH of a teenager who was struck by a van while being pursued by another boy over the theft of a bicycle has been ruled accidental by the Dublin County Coroner’s Court .
Dean Hilton (13), Donomore Park, Tallaght, died on September 4th, 2008, after he was struck by a Ford Transit van at a junction on the Blessington Road near the Jobstown Inn. He was being pursued at the time by another boy, Darrell Fitzgerald, whose bike Dean had stolen earlier that day.
The coroner’s court heard statements by two of Dean’s friends, Adam Grocott (14) and Stewart Conway (13), who witnessed the incident. The three boys were on lunch break from Killinarden Community School when it happened.
The boys passed by Darrell’s house on their way to get lunch. A gold BMX bike was outside the house. Dean told his two friends that Darrell had hit him a few weeks earlier and that he was going to steal his bike “to get him back”.
According to the boys they had been eating while sitting on a wall near a local garage when they were confronted by Darrell’s mother, Theia, who recognised the bike as her son’s. She shouted to Darrell who ran after Dean as he cycled away.
Darrell pursued Dean as he travelled across the green in the direction of the traffic junction.
In a statement read out at the coroner’s court, Darrell said he had been on suspension from school on the day in question. He had been playing in a garden near his own house in Cloonmore Gardens when he heard his mother shouting.
The coroner’s court also heard a statement by Darrell’s mother, who could not attend due to illness. According to her statement, Ms Fitzgerald shouted “here, give me back that bike” at which point Dean jumped on the bicycle and took off. She saw the boy cycle away and shouted to her son to “get that bike”.
As Dean approached the pedestrian lights at the junction, he jumped off the bike and dashed across the road where he was hit by an oncoming van.
“I am so sorry for Dean and his family all over a stupid bike,” Ms Fitzgerald said in her statement.
Dublin county coroner Dr Kieran Geraghty recorded an accidental death and extended his sympathies to the boy’s family.