A MAN has gone on trial charged with dangerous driving causing the death of a Limerick teenager nearly two years ago.
Gearóid Cleary (25), Ballinacurra Gardens, Limerick, denies dangerous driving causing the death of Emma Woodland (19), at Fairgreen Cross, Ballysimon Road, Limerick, in September 2006.
The jury in the trial heard yesterday that a foreign national, Roman Andreas, had already pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing Ms Woodland’s death.
In his outline of the State’s case to the jury yesterday, John O’Sullivan, prosecuting, said Andreas’s guilty plea did not exonerate the defendant “who is the sole person on trial here”.
Mr O’Sullivan said it was the State’s contention that both men were guilty of dangerous driving which contributed to the death of Ms Woodland.
The court heard that the incident took place in the early hours of September 9th, 2006.
Mr Cleary was driving a white Honda Integra on the Ballysimon Road and his car was being followed closely by a dark blue BMW.
As both vehicles approached a junction on the road known as Fairgreen Cross, a Toyota Starlet in which Ms Woodland was a back-seat passenger had nearly completed crossing the junction.
It is the State’s case that both vehicles were going too fast and that when the Honda Integra braked suddenly, it was rear-ended by the BMW.
The Honda continued for a distance and collided with the Toyota Starlet.
Mr O’Sullivan said there was a very “severe impact”, and damage to the Starlet and Honda, as well as to fixtures in the area, were indicative of the “very high speed” involved.
Taxi driver Mark Halvey, who was stopped near the junction at the time, described to the court yesterday how he heard the screeching of rubber before a loud explosion.
He said the Honda had gone through a wall and the Toyota was smashed up.
Mr Halvey described seeing the female driver of the Toyota lying on the lap of a front male passenger and said he saw Ms Woodland in the back seat and she was dead.
David Flanagan, who was a back-seat passenger in the taxi, described seeing a cloud of smoke and the Toyota Starlet “coming at us through the air”.
Mr Flanagan said he saw a black BMW leave the scene of the crash, while Mr Halvey had no recollection of seeing the vehicle.
The trial continues today at Limerick Circuit Court before Judge Carroll Moran and a jury of six men and six women.