Courts

Car seen travelling at ‘phenomenal speed’ before being involved in fatal M50 crash

Gerry Daly (57) treated for a hypoglycemic episode after collision left Jacqueline Griffin (39) with ‘catastrophic’ head injuries

A witness told the trial that he tried to assist Jacqueline Griffin following the crash on the M50 but there was nothing he could do given the nature of her injuries. Photograph: Dara Mac Donaill

Sonya McLean
Wed Nov 15 2023 - 14:09

A woman died of “catastrophic” head injuries following a collision on the M50 motorway, a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court trial has heard.

Gerry Daly (57) of Derby Lodge, Brownstown, The Curragh, Co Kildare, pleaded not guilty  to dangerous driving causing the death of Jacqueline Griffin (39) at junction five of the motorway on January 24th, 2019.

Garnet Orange SC, prosecuting, on Wednesday read from report by a doctor who noted the death of Ms Griffin after being contacted by gardaí to attend at the scene of the incident.

A postmortem report was also read into the record by Mr Orange which noted that Ms Griffin had died of “catastrophic head injuries after her vehicle was struck from the rear by another vehicle travelling at speed”.

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Earlier, truck driver Joseph Dunne, who was driving behind Ms Griffin’s car that day, told the jury he had trained as a first responder with the Offaly Fire Service and went to check on the driver of the car after witnessing the collision. He said he got to the car and looked in the windscreen.

Mr Dunne agreed with a suggestion from Mr Orange that he “tried to assist but there was nothing you could do”.

He said there was “occasional misty rain” that morning, the roads were wet and the traffic was heavy but moving well. He said that as he was approaching the M50 exit for Finglas, he checked his mirrors and began to manoeuvre the truck to turn off.

“I was half way through and a black car came into my right hand lane. The car came so quick. It shot by me so quick,” Mr Dunne said.

He said the black car struck his trailer and he was preparing to stop when he noticed a collision in front of him.

“The black car ran into the back of a maroon car and pushed it into the crash barriers. It caused the maroon car to overturn before it continued driving,” Mr Dunne told the jury. “It was going at phenomenal speed. It was not driving at a normal speed. I thought it was either a drunk driver or being chased.”

Judith Ryan told the jury that she was also travelling on the M50 that morning, from Castleknock to Finglas, when a vehicle struck the driver’s side of her car. She stopped and noticed the vehicle that hit her had stopped, so she approached the driver.

She said the air bags in the man’s car had deployed and he was “sitting calmly” in the driver’s seat.

“I asked him if he was okay. He had his hands on his belly. He told me his name. He said he was diabetic,” Ms Ryan said.

The witness said he told her he had nothing in the car with him and he was feeling unwell. She said she does not have medical training but she assumed this meant that he needed something sweet. “I went off looking for something that was sweet with a view to getting something to help him.”

Ms Ryan said she never returned to the driver as the fire service arrived soon after and were tending to the man. She agreed with Roderick O’Hanlon SC, defending, that the driver in the black car “appeared not to be responding to either the traffic or the way the weather was at the time”.

She further agreed that when she approached the driver “he seemed in shock” and told her he was a diabetic and indicated that he “needed something to bring his levels back”.

A number of fire officers and paramedics who arrived at the scene told the jury that they attended to Mr Daly, who was still sitting in the driver’s seat of his vehicle. The jury was told that Mr Daly was treated for a hypoglycemic episode after it was confirmed that he was a diabetic and had low blood sugar levels.

He was administered glucose gel and glucose by various medics at the scene before he was taken for further treatment by ambulance to James Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown. Mr Daly was described as being “acutely confused” and did not know how and why he was in that position at that time.

One witness said Mr Daly told him that he had been driving home that day but would normally not come this far and the junction where the crash happened was not his usual turn off.

The trial continues before Judge Elma Sheahan and a jury.

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