AN ELDERLY man who crashed his car, killing his wife and seriously injuring a little girl has been found not guilty of dangerous driving causing serious harm.
A jury at Letterkenny Circuit Court in Co Donegal yesterday found that William Barr (81), Middletown, Derrybeg, was not in control of his car when it crashed in Dunlewey in May 2008.
Mr Barr’s defence claimed he had fainted at the wheel as a result of taking blood pressure tablets and that he was “autonomous” during the crash.
The crash left four-year-old Nóirín Nic Gairbheith in a wheelchair for life after her spinal cord was severed. Mr Barr’s wife Maggie (83) was killed.
The court heard Mr Barr was returning from Letterkenny with his wife when the collision occurred. Sonia Nic Gairbheith, Gaoth Dobhair, told how she came around a bend at Dunlewy to find a Volkswagen Jetta car on her side of the road. There was a head-on collision and Ms Nic Gairbheith’s car, which contained her two children, Nóirín and Aodán, aged two, was pushed back into a ditch.
The car caught fire and the mother and two children had to pulled from the car by passersby.
Mr Barr said he could only remember regaining consciousness at Letterkenny hospital.
The court heard how he had been on five drugs to keep his blood pressure under control as he had suffered from hypertension and had cardiac trouble. He had been put on the medication by his GP and had already suffered a number of fainting incidents.
Expert evidence from retired professor of pharmacology Michael Ryan said it was possible that the drug Biscopine could have caused Mr Barr to faint. Prof Ryan said his dose of Biscopine had been increased from 10mg to 15mg and this may have contributed to him passing out at the wheel. This was the only drug which could have caused him to faint and lose control of his car.
Peter Nolan, defending, said there was no other explanation as to why Mr Barr’s car veered more across the road in a straight line.
“He has a clean driving licence, the car was mechanically sound and the driving conditions were good,” Mr Nolan said. “Something catastrophic happened and the only explanation is that Mr Barr fainted. That is what happened.”
Patricia McLaughlin, prosecuting, challenged Prof Ryan’s evidence and said advice to patients taking Biscopine was that it was not common for them to faint as a result of taking it.
Judge John O’Hagan told the jury it had to first consider if Mr Barr was autonomous or that he was not in control of himself when his car crashed. If it could not find this, the jurors would have to consider if he was guilty of dangerous driving or they could also consider a charge of careless driving.
The jury took just 15 minutes to return the not guilty verdict.
Judge O’Hagan said: “This was an extremely harrowing case on both sides and two people have been scarred forever.”