Man for court on deaths of 3 in head-on collision

A 19-year-old man is to appear in Coleraine Magistrates' Court today in connection with a traffic accident which killed three…

A 19-year-old man is to appear in Coleraine Magistrates' Court today in connection with a traffic accident which killed three people and seriously injured four others on the Ballymoney-Portrush road, Co Antrim, on Friday.

A boy, Tyler Watson (3), from the Woodvale area of west Belfast, remains critically ill in intensive care after the car he was travelling in, a Vauxhall Corsa, collided with a stolen vehicle, killing both his parents, Mr Justin Watson and his wife, Charmaine.

The front-seat passenger of the stolen car, a white Vauxhall Cavalier, also died in the accident. He was named as Mr Brian Donnelly (19), from the Suffolk area of south Belfast.

Police had attempted to stop the Cavalier, which had been stolen in Belfast earlier that day, but it made a U-turn and collided with three other vehicles before crashing into the Corsa at speed.

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A paediatric anaesthetist at the Belfast Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Dr Paul Loan, said: "Tyler is very lucky to be alive. He has suffered extensive fractures, internal injuries and one head injury which is not too serious. He has undergone a series of operations and is likely to remain in intensive care for the next few days. But he is reasonably stable considering the extent of his injuries." Tyler's six-year-old sister, Connie, who was not with the family at the time of the accident, is being cared for by relatives.