Garda in shock after fatal collision with pedestrian, colleague tells trial
A garda charged with dangerous driving causing death of a pedestrian was in shock after the fatal collision, his colleague has told a jury.
Warren Farrell (35), a garda serving in Clondalkin, Co Dublin, was on duty as the driver of a marked patrol car that was responding to a panic button call at a Topaz garage when the car struck Elizabeth Core.
Mr Farrell has pleaded not guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of Mrs Core at Fonthill Road South on August 28, 2014.
Garda Declan Bambrick told the jury at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that he was on duty with Gda Farrell on the day and was a passenger in the patrol car.
He said as he and Gda Farrell travelled to the scene of a robbery at the garage he was scanning the road for a suspect vehicle which had reportedly left the garage at speed. He said he saw Mrs Core stepping into the bus lane on the opposite side of the road.
Gda Bambrick told Patrick McGrath SC, defending, that he would have expected her to either stop or step back on the footpath and he looked away and continued to look around for the suspect vehicle.
He agreed with counsel that his attention was drawn back to the lady because “to your surprise” she had continued to walk across the road. He said she was at the solid white line on the road and continued crossing the road
Gda Bambrick said that Mrs Core seemed to be picking up speed as the car was getting closer. He said he was then about to alert Gda Farrell to this when Gda Farrell applied the brakes hard and moved the car to the left into the bus lane.
He said he remembered shouting something in panic and the car hit the kerb and he felt a bang. The witness said Gda Farrell had mounted the kerb to avoid Mrs Core.
Gda Bambrick said that after the collision the car came to a stop shortly afterwards. He said they deactivated the sirens and got out of the car. He saw Mrs Core on the ground with blood gushing from her mouth and they contacted ambulance services. He said both he and Gda Farrell were in shock.
Eye witness Alma Ozakauskiene said she saw the lady crossing the road calmly and said she wasn't rushing. She said she was already on the other side and was “on the grass” when she was hit.
Another eye witness Geraldine Brown said that the point of impact was just as Mrs Core entered the bus lane on that side of the road. She said she crossed at a normal pace and she saw Mrs Core being thrown up on the car and into the air where her body somersaulted.
The trial continues before Judge Cormac Quinn and a jury of six men and six women.
