A disqualified driver was speeding 60km over the limit and had a blood-alcohol level double the legal limit when he crashed a vehicle into a lamp-post in southwest Dublin almost five years ago, resulting in his and his passenger’s death, an inquest has heard.
Dean Coleman (25), from Drimnagh, and his passenger, mother of two Annemarie Hooper (33) from Tallaght, were both killed in the single-vehicle collision that occurred on Butterfield Avenue, Rathfarnham, in the early hours of December 17th, 2019. Coleman had been pursued by gardaí after failing to stop for detectives in the minutes before the fatal crash.
A sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Tuesday heard that speed was the main causative factor in the crash – Coleman was driving at 113km/h in a 50km zone when the Fiat Stilo he was driving spun out of control and wrapped around a lamp-post.
Coleman’s blood alcohol level was double the legal limit, and there was also cocaine present in his body – a combination, pathologist Heidi Okkers said, that makes people “take more risks”. Hooper’s toxicology report also found a presence of alcohol and cocaine in her system. Neither Coleman nor Hooper were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash.
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Coleman may not have been familiar with the vehicle he was driving as it was not his, the inquest also heard, and two of the car’s tires were not roadworthy.
Det Gda David Sheehan told the court he heard the sound of screeching tires close to Old Bawn Shopping Centre, Tallaght, and when he attempted to stop the car the driver did not comply and took off back down the Old Bawn Road.
Det Gda Sheehan, who was accompanied by Det Garda Patrick Browne, then began a pursuit of the vehicle. Det Gda Brown communicated to the Garda control centre about the driver’s failure to stop, the court heard. A second patrol car attached to Rathfarnham Garda station joined the pursuit some time later.
Det Gda Sheehan said that they lost sight of the Fiat Stilo car on several occasions during the pursuit, and that Coleman broke red lights whilst driving through a number of junctions.
When gardaí came to the scene of the crash on Butterfield Avenue, about four minutes after the pursuit had commenced, there were no signs of life, the court heard.
Garda Lyn Connaugton, a forensic collisions investigator, said that the damage to the car following impact was “catastrophic”. The lamp-post had protruded significantly into the vehicle, she said: “The car effectively just spun around the lamp-post.”
She explained that Coleman lost control of the vehicle after coming out of a sweeping right-hand bend, and that the crash occurred on a straight stretch of road.
The patrol car was roughly 141m to 156m behind Coleman’s vehicle when the crash occurred, the court heard.
Gda Connaughton agreed with the coroner that speed was the main cause of the collision.
She agreed with Lauren Flanagan BL, for the Hooper family, that Coleman was ineligible to drive at the time of the collision as he was disqualified from the road.
Diane Stuart BL, counsel for Gsoc, put it to Det Gda Sheehan that a directive issued in September 2019 relating to “managed containment” of vehicles stated that Garda drivers should seek explicit permission from command and control to continue a pursuit of a vehicle.
The detective said that he “didn’t recall” explicitly asking for permission to this end. “Permission was implied. At no stage were we told to stand down or stop,” he told the court.
The court heard that a Gsoc investigation of the incident did not recommend disciplinary proceeding be brought against any members of the force.
Coroner Dr Clare Keane recorded the medical cause of death in Hooper’s case as multiple traumatic injuries to the body in an unrestrained passenger in a single-vehicle road traffic collision.
In Coleman’s case, she recorded the cause of death as multiple traumatic blunt force injuries to the body, in an unrestrained driver in a single-vehicle road traffic collision.
After a short deliberation period, the jury returned a verdict of misadventure in the cases of both Hooper and Coleman.
The jury recommended that refresher training be provided around managed containment policy within An Garda Síochána.
Dr Keane said that she would not formally accept the recommendation, given that there was no evidence before the court suggesting that there were issues around managed containment policy during the incident in question.
She said that she would informally pass the recommendation on to the relevant authorities.
In a written statement shared with reporters, Hooper’s teenage daughter Katelyn Hooper said that her mother’s death impacted her life in “so many ways”.
“My mother has missed so much of my life already,” Katelyn, who was 13-years-old at the time of her mother’s death, said. “I got my drivers licence, an achievement every daughter should share with her mother, but I didn’t get to.
“I have lost so many memories with her and have to face this through every milestone of my life. She won’t be here to see me off to my debs next week. I won’t have her to turn to when I need my mother. She won’t be here to see me get married or experience life with me.”
“The affects of this incident will live with me for the rest of my life. It is impossible to put into words the damage my mother’s death has caused me,” she said.
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