A haulier has been found guilty of a charge relating to a fatal accident in which a Co Limerick pensioner was killed when a wheel came off the trailer of an articulated lorry.
Brendan Woods (32), Holycross, Thurles, Co Tipperary was found guilty by a jury at Limerick Circuit Court yesterday of owning a vehicle that, because of a known defect or a defect which could have been discovered by the exercise of ordinary care, was a danger to the public. However, Woods was cleared of the more serious charge of reckless endangerment.
Both charges followed an accident in Co Limerick on February 18th, 2004, in which Vincent Byrnes, of Doon, Clarina, Co Limerick, died.
The 60-year-old single man was fatally injured when a large double wheel came off the trailer of an articulated tractor unit and struck him when he was walking along a footpath towards the village of Clarina.
During the trial, evidence was given by a leading Garda expert witness that a normal inspection of the trailer could have prevented the dislocation of the wheel.
Garda public service vehicle inspector Mick Reddy told the jury that in his 20 years' experience of dealing with heavy goods vehicles, the articulated lorry involved was the "most dangerously under-braked combination" he had encountered.
Judge Carroll Moran adjourned sentencing to May 19th next.