THE TRIAL of a GP who denies a charge of dangerous driving which caused the death of a woman near Claregalway two years ago, has begun before a jury at Galway Circuit Criminal Court.
Dr Devi Chalikonda (50), Cnoc an Glas, Spiddal, is charged with dangerous driving which caused the death of Eileen O’Halloran (67) at Cregboy, Claregalway, on August 28th, 2007.
The jury heard yesterday that Ms O’Halloran’s body was found on the grass verge near the ditch inside the hard shoulder on the N17 at Cregboy at about 9.40am that Tuesday morning by passing motorists.
She had been hit from behind as she was walking towards Claregalway village with her dog, which was on a lead.
Pathologist Dr Stephanie Curran said Ms O’Halloran had suffered multiple injuries and fractures and died instantly.
Conor Fahy, prosecuting, said there were no witnesses to the incident but the front grille of a Volvo was found 20 feet from where Ms O’Halloran’s body was found. This belonged to Dr Chalikonda’s vehicle, which was later found 2.2km away at Claregalway village.
Mr Fahy said the doctor made a voluntary statement to the Garda in which she said she could remember turning on to the Tuam road that morning but she could not remember when it happened.
She said she became very light-headed and her head started to spin violently. She began to feel nauseous and she had no recollection of her car coming to a stop in Claregalway village.
“It will be the State’s case that Eileen O’Halloran was walking well in on the hard shoulder. The doctor was driving and the forensic evidence is that there was a collision between the jeep and the woman and that this accident occurred in on the hard shoulder.”
Her driving led to the unfortunate death of Ms O’Halloran, he added.
Garda Eoin Griffin, now retired, said he was off duty that morning when he came upon the scene. He went with Michael Lally, who had been at the scene before him, to Claregalway village where he found Dr Chalikonda’s vehicle, pulled in on a lay-by near Hughes’s supermarket. She was in the driver’s seat with her head back on the headrest and her eyes closed.
He noticed the front left headlight was damaged, as was the bonnet and left passenger side windscreen, and the front grille was missing. He spoke to Dr Chalikonda, who did not reply, and he formed the opinion she might be drunk.
He took the keys out of the ignition. She appeared distressed and vomited down the front of her clothes as he spoke to her. She also vomited to her left.
Martin Giblin SC, defending, asked Mr Griffin if he had ever heard of a severe type of vertigo called vestibular neuritis, from which his client suffered.
Mr Griffin said he had never heard of the condition or come across it during his 35 years as a garda. “I still don’t know what she was suffering from,” he added.
Dr Séamus Cunningham told the trial that Dr Chalikonda had been working in his surgery in Tuam for six months before the incident and he had never known her to suffer from vertigo until then. He said he treated her on May 14th, 2008, in his surgery for an acute episode of vertigo.
“This was the year after the accident. I treated her. She became acutely unwell. She got very sick and could not move her head. She had to be supported as any movement would trigger off vomiting. I gave her an injection of Stimotel as she had got an acute attack of vertigo,” he said.
Dr Cunningham said he did not know if she had ever been treated for vertigo before the incident. “Vertigo can hit you out of the blue. There can be no prior warning.”
A Garda forensic expert said debris found at the scene matched that of the Volvo vehicle.
The trial continues today.