THE FATHERS of two Irish women killed in a hit-and-run incident in Rome on St Patrick's night last, told a Rome court yesterday of their families' sense of pain and loss.
Kevin Collins and Tom Gubbins, fathers of Mary Collins (28) from Co Kildare and Elizabeth Gubbins (27) from Co Limerick, were giving evidence in the trial of Italian Friedrich Vernarelli (32) for manslaughter of the two women.
They were struck down and killed instantly at a pedestrian crossing in central Rome at about 3am on March 18th.
Yesterday's hearing had begun on a controversial note when Roberto Vernarelli, the father of the accused, was escorted from the court by police after he had shouted insults at a policeman.
Mr Vernarelli snr accuses the police of not having gathered enough witness evidence at the scene of the crime, evidence which he believes would prove that his son was not driving the car at the time of the crash.
On a day in which Christopher Collins, brother of Mary, also gave evidence, the Irish witnesses painted a picture of two close-knit, harmonious families which had been "devastated" by the incident.
Both Irish fathers also expressed their sense of outrage at the behaviour of the defendant's father who last August, on the eve of the opening of this trial, held a controversial news conference.
Although Friedrich Vernarelli had initially appeared to admit his guilt, saying that he wanted "to pay" for his "crimes", his father claimed at the August news conference that his son had not been driving the car at the time.
"I felt annoyed and insulted that the person who killed my daughter has not got the honesty to stand up and take responsibility for what he did," Mr Gubbins told the court yesterday. "I felt insulted that someone should organise a press conference about my daughter's death."
Mr Gubbins said that earlier, not long after the fatal crash, he had received a telegram of apology from the Vernarelli family in which Friedrich appeared to "accept responsibility".
Christopher Collins (24) said that news of the Vernarelli news conference had upset his family, leaving them "agitated and frustrated". He said Mr Vernarelli had shown "disrespect" to the dead women and their grieving families by turning the fatal crash into a "media story".
Mr Collins jnr described his family as "very close", pointing out that the family went to Mass together and always sat down together to eat a meal. He said it was now "normal" to hear someone crying in the house.
Christopher Collins recalled that he had first heard of the incident on a radio news report in Ireland about the deaths of two Irish women in Rome.
Knowing that his sister was in the city he had immediately rung her mobile, but he attributed little significance to it when she failed to answer. When his father rang him shortly afterwards, he had feared the worst.
Tom Gubbins (64) said he feared he would have a heart attack when he was given the news about Elizabeth. "It was so sudden, we were devastated. It's the worst thing that can happen to a family to have a child die like that, so far away from home."
Kevin Collins said that since the incident, his family had stopped doing many things. Even watching television together was painful, he said, because things like road safety ads merely reminded them all of their pain. He said that his wife Mary had been in "difficulty", continually thinking about her lost daughter.