WITNESSES TO a fatal crash in Co Louth in which a Donegal man was killed and two other people were seriously injured have said the driver of a van appeared to be sleeping as he overtook other cars.
Oliver Shovelin (32), Clondallon, Rathmullen, Co Donegal, has pleaded not guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of his passenger, John Sheridan, and causing bodily harm to Deirdre O’Brien at Cookstown, Ardee, on July 11th, 2004.
Brendan Carbury, who was travelling with his family, said he noticed a white van behind him “driving like a maniac” and when it tried to overtake him the driver appeared to have his eyes closed.
“My initial reaction was, ‘Oh my God, that man is asleep’,” he told prosecuting counsel Fergal Foley at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Mr Carbury said he saw a Volkswagen Golf towing a horsebox try to avoid the van but they collided head on, throwing the horsebox into the air. “It disintegrated as the horse came busting out the roof and landed in front of us with its legs splayed.”
The court has heard that the horse had to be put down.
John Hayles was travelling in the opposite direction and told Mr Foley he met the van coming down the wrong side of the road but Mr Shovelin did not seem to acknowledge him. “I kept honking the horn and flashing the lights, thinking the driver must be asleep because he doesn’t see me.”
He said he then realised the driver was awake but was leaning back, “very relaxed looking”, with one hand on the wheel.
“He just looked so casual about the whole thing,” Mr Hayles told defence counsel David Goldberg.
He said he avoided Mr Shovelin and saw the collision in his rearview mirror.
Ms O’Brien, who was driving the Volkswagen Golf, told Mr Foley she saw the van “zigzagging” before coming in a straight line towards her on the wrong side of the road. She said she saw the car in front swerve out of the way and she tried to do the same.
“I remember thinking I had to move out of the way. I knew he was going to hit me but I thought if he hit me on my passenger side I might have some chance of surviving.” She said the next thing she could remember was a large bang and seeing the engine “all around my legs”.
Dr John Ryan, who carried out the autopsy on Mr Sheridan, said he died of multiple injuries. He also had severe cuts on his chest caused by the seat belt.
The trial continues before Judge Tony Hunt and a jury of eight men and four women.