THE FIVE young people from Inishowen, Co Donegal, who died when their car was struck by a car driven by a drunk driver, had shown a high “level of responsibility on the night in question“, and inquest in Donegal heard yesterday.
Gavin Duffy (21), Charlene O’Connor (21), Darren Quinn (21), Rochelle Peoples (22), from Buncrana, and David Steel (23) from Quigley’s Point, all died instantly on October 8th, 2005, when the black Peugeot car in which they were travelling was struck by a blue Mazda car driven by Brendan Henderson of Seven Oaks, Derry.
The inquest heard from Garda Supt Jimmy Coen that Henderson’s car was on the wrong side of the road.
A blood sample taken from Henderson in Derry’s Altnagelvin hospital showed that he was 2½ times over the legal limit of alcohol.
Coroner Dr John Madden said that Mr Duffy, who had been driving, was “nowhere near the legal limit”.
“He was as sober as a judge and no blame could be attached to him or the four passengers.”
All five young people were returning from the Bailey nightclub in Redcastle when the crash occurred at Cross, near Quigley’s Point, at 3.15am.
Taxi-driver Eamon McKinney, who was the first person to come on the scene of the horrific crash said the black car had overtaken his taxi travelling at about 60mph on a straight part of the road with a broken white line.
Only minutes later, he saw the car crashed on the grass verge and the blue car in the middle of the road. Mr McKinney’s passengers alerted the emergency services.
Emma Noone, one of the taxi passengers, told how she got sick from shock at the side of the road after seeing the young people in the Peugeot. She and her friends had shouted to the people in the black car but got no reply. Mr McKinney said he thought all five of them were dead.
Dr Justus Breur pronounced all five dead at the scene as their bodies were removed from by the fire services.
Shane Quinn, a brother of Darren Quinn, came on the scene of the accident shortly after it happened.
He told the inquest: “When I saw the black car I just knew it was David Steel’s car. I knew it was badly smashed and got the feeling they were all dead. I saw Gavin Duffy’s head hanging out the driver’s door and I knew straight away he was dead. I rang my mother.”
The coroner said the families had already been provided with copies of the postmortem report. He said cause of death was due to multiple injuries in a road traffic accident.
“Lots of witnesses have told how they saw no sign of life at the scene,” Dr Madden said. “On reading the report there is no way they could have survived that accident. Death would have been instantaneous such was the ferocity and severity of the injuries they all suffered.”
The jury brought in a verdict of death due to injuries sustained in a road traffic accident.
Supt Coen said the accident had been the subject of a comprehensive investigation. In May of this year, Henderson pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death and was jailed for four years.
“What had been established was that Henderson had been at the Pollan Beach Hotel and had been consuming alcohol for eight hours and left at 3am.
“Gavin Duffy’s driving on the night in question and when he overtook Mr McKinney was totally proper.”
He was an insured named driver for Mr Steel’s car.
“The level of responsibility they showed was in marked contrast to that shown by Brendan Henderson,” Supt Coen added. “Their speed at the time of impact was under the speed limit. The speed of the Mazda was over the speed limit – between 93 and 111km/h.”
Dr Madden extended his sincere sympathy to the families of the five victims.
He said the death of these five young people more than any other accident in Donegal had “touched the population in a way that was totally different”.
He described it as an “awful example of stupidity and drunk driving”.
“We hear the trite phrase, a waste of life – this truly was. I hope it brings some closure to the families and they can get on with the rest of their lives,” Dr Madden added.
Patrick Quinn, father of Darren, thanked Supt Coen, Sgt Charlie Allan and their colleagues as well as the emergency services for all of their work.
Families grateful inquest is over
ANNETTE DUFFY, mother of Gavin Duffy who was driving the Peugeot, said after yesterday's hearing that she had been dreading the inquest.
"I had read about their injuries in the postmortem report. Thank God they didn't go into more detail during the inquest," she said.
"All of the families have been dreading it but the young people have all been a great support to all of us. I felt bad for all of them having to get up and give their evidence and relive that terrible night. People put young people down but they have been great.
"I want to remember Gavin as he went out the door that night, not they way he was described here.
"The inquest today is the end of a long process – no more big dates looming in front of us.
"Anyone who loses a child knows it is with you until the day you die. Now that the process has come to an end we can get on with living our lives with no more court cases or meetings.
"From that point of view, it has come to an end."