A jury yesterday returned a verdict of accidental death in the case of a 20-year-old German au pair killed in Carrigaline, Co Cork when she was run over by a truck while trying to save the life of the 13-month-old girl she was minding.
Nicole Naumburger was fatally injured when she was dragged under the truck while trying to pull Maeve Bosteels to safety on Main Street, Carrigaline, on February 26th.
Ms Naumburger tried to pull the little girl and her buggy out from under the front of the truck after the buggy got caught. She had stopped to allow a car pass out from an exit from the Supervalu car park on to the Main Street in Carrigaline when the tragedy happened. When she went to cross the exit, a truck coming out of the car park drove over the buggy.
Yesterday, Mr Fergal Dennehy,solicitor for Ms Naumburger's parents, Volkmar and Martina, expressed surprise that the coroner for south Cork, Mr Frank O'Connell, had not summonsed the driver of the truck, Mr Eric Foley (23) from Anglesea Street, Cork, to attend the inquest in Carrigaline.
Mr O'Connell said he had not summonsed Mr Foley but requested him to attend. However, Mr Foley had not turned up. Mr O'Connell said he believed there were enough independent witnesses to give evidence to the inquest, which would allow the jury return a verdict on what exactly happened.
Mr O'Connell said the inquest was not an inquiry to establish civil or criminal liability, but an attempt to establish the identity of the deceased and where, when and how she had died.
Mr Dennehy also asked Mr O'Connell to have Mr Foley's statement to gardaí put on the record. However, Mr O'Connell said he didn't believe it provided any additional insights into what happened. "There is nothing in it that will further our inquiry."
Insp John O'Brien had earlier told Mr O'Connell that gardaí had carried out an investigation into Ms Naumburger's death and submitted a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions. However, the DPP had directed there be no prosecution.
Sgt Gerry Lacey told the inquest that he had seen CCTV footage of the accident. It showed Ms Naumburger coming along the pavement of Main Street pushing the buggy.
The video showed her stopping to allow a car exit from the car park, while a DAF truck driven by Mr Foley - who was working for Wilton Transport - emerged from the car park.
"The footage shows the girl has commenced crossing and both she and the buggy are in front of the truck. She appears to be pulling the buggy with her left hand and waving to the driver with her right hand. The truck continues to emerge from the entrance at a very slow speed.
"The girl is stepping out in front of the truck, still trying to attract the driver's attention; she falls to the ground, leaving go of the buggy at the same time. She is tumbled over a few times and the front passenger wheel of the truck rolls over her upper body," said Sgt Lacey.
Garda PSV inspector Sgt Pat Donovan said he found Mr Foley's lorry to be roadworthy with all the required mirrors in place. However, he found seven cardboard boxes each measuring 12 in x 18 in on the passenger seat and a baseball hat on the front left of the dashboard.
"If those items were in the places where I found them before the accident, they would have hampered the driver's overall view particularly to the lefthand side and front of the vehicle."
Sgt Donovan also carried out tests on the driver's visibility and found that an item had to be 5ft 9ins inches off the ground or 1.72 metres high before it became visible to the driver right in front of the truck. The inquest heard that Ms Naumburger was 1.65 metres tall.
From the overall examination of the truck, in particular the test on driver visibility, the position of the items in the cab and the fact that the driver was turning right, "it is apparent that the driver did not see or realise the presence of the pedestrian," said Sgt Donovan.
The jury returned a verdict of accidental death and Mr O'Connell offered his deepest sympathies to Ms Naumburger's parents on her tragic death in what he described as "extraordinary, extraordinary circumstances".
Mr Dennehy said Mr and Mrs Naumburger wished to thank everyone who helped their daughter while baby Maeve's parents, Mr Dominique Bosteels and Ms Finola McCarthy, also wished to acknowledge the ultimate sacrifice made by Ms Naumburger to save their daughter's life.
