Mother of Dublin teen killed in e-scrambler collision calls for such vehicles to be banned

Seán McCárthaigh

The mother of a Dublin teenager who was killed after crashing a friend’s e-scrambler motorcycle that he was riding for the first time has called for such vehicles to be banned.

Tallaght woman, Margaret Murphy, made her comments following an inquest into the death of her son at Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Thursday.

Seán Murphy (18) of Mac Uilliam Court, Fortunestown Lane, Tallaght, died as a result of multiple traumatic injuries he sustained in the single vehicle collision which occurred a short distance from his home.

The inquest heard the teenager collided into the pillar of the driveway of a house at Mac Uilliam Heights at around 10:30pm on June 7th, 2023.

The teenager was rushed by ambulance to nearby Tallaght University Hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after midnight.

“These machines should be taken off the road. There’s nothing but lives being lost with them,” said Ms Murphy after the conclusion of the hearing.

She added: “They’re not wearing helmets. They’re not wearing safety gear. You see them flying across fields and most of the time it’s for drug runs. I just want them banned.”

The deceased’s grandmother, Jean Leeson, gave evidence of identifying her grandson’s body to gardaí at TUH after being notified about the fatal collision by his mother.

His friend, Marcus O’Gorman, told the inquest that he and Seán, whom he described as “a brother” had met up earlier that evening after work and were outside with another friend, Oskar Ivashchenko, who had an e-scrambler.

The inquest heard another friend, Bradley Doyle, had asked if he could have a go on the bike and went up and down the road really slow before Seán asked for a turn.

Mr O’Gorman said his friend was “a messer” and began throttling the machine which shot out in front of him.

However, he said Seán began to get confident as he got the feel of the machine.

At one stage, Mr O’Gorman said he saw his friend coming down the road too fast before he disappeared out of view after wobbling on the vehicle.

He then heard a loud bang and ran up the road to find that his friend had crashed into a pillar with a large puddle of blood on the ground.

“He was in bits. His head was cracked open,” Mr O’Gorman recalled.

Mr Ivashchenko told the hearing that he had bought the Sur-Ron Light Bee X – a high-performance, electric, off-road dirt bike – from a motorsports store in Tallaght for €5,000.

He recalled telling the deceased to be careful and to go easy on the throttle when using the e-scrambler as he knew Seán was unfamiliar with such vehicles.

Mr Ivashchenko said he could tell that his friend was excited about being on it but was going too fast.

'Overly confident'

Mr Ivashchenko believed that Seán was “overly confident” and took off again after which the crash occurred.

In reply to questions from coroner Cróna Gallagher, Mr Ivashchenko said he just used the vehicle for leisure purposes but pointed out that users needed to take time to learn to ride them.

A woman who came to the deceased’s assistance, Joanne Hassett, said she was preparing to go to bed when she heard a loud bang outside her home followed by screaming.

Fighting back tears, Ms Hassett said the injured teenager was trying to get up and told her: “I feel really sick in my belly. It’s hurting.”

After a few minutes, she noticed a change in his breathing and he became more confused and began slurring his speech.

Ms Hassett, who tried to stop the victim’s bleeding with a towel, remarked: “It’s horrific. I just tried to do what any mother would do.”

Another neighbour, Sawson Mohamad, who got a blanket to keep the teenager warm before paramedics arrived on the scene, recalled seeing his chest was blue and “looking like he was going to die.”

Relatives of the deceased apologised to Ms Mohamad for racial abuse that she and her family had suffered after the incident from “young men with hormones” over whom they had no control.

A postmortem showed the victim had suffered multiple severe injuries to his head and upper body including his liver, lungs and kidneys as well as internal bleeding.

The coroner noted that his injuries were “unsurvivable.”

The deceased tested negative for alcohol.

Although Seán was on medication for suspected epilepsy, the coroner said she was satisfied from the evidence that he did not suffer any seizure that could have caused the fatal collision.

A forensic collision investigator, Garda John Cullition, said weather and road conditions played no role in the crash.

Garda Culliton noted that the deceased was not wearing any safety equipment including a helmet for use on an e-scrambler that had a maximum speed of 75km/h.

He said an examination of the scene indicated that the victim had impacted straight into the pillar without going over the handlebars.

Although the e-scrambler was found to have no mechanical defects, Garda Culliton said such vehicles were “designed to be used off-road and not in a public place.”

He described what happened as “a sudden occurrence, high-speed incident.”

The investigator said it was not possible to estimate the exact speed that the deceased was travelling at the point of impact.

Garda Culliton also observed that the victim may not have been experienced enough to operate the e-scrambler safely.

He noted the absence of any evidence of braking indicated “the sudden nature of the impact.”

Garda Culliton said such vehicles were specifically designed for off-road use with riders wearing safety gear including goggles and a helmet.

Dr Gallagher remarked that the popularity of such vehicles had grown exponentially “and perhaps the law has not kept up.”

The coroner noted that several witnesses had outlined how e-motorbikes also delivered power quicker than those with traditional engines and were quieter which might give users a false sense of security.

Sergeant Cormac O’Donnell said CCTV footage which captured the fatal collision corroborated the evidence provided by witnesses.

Sgt O’Donnell said the images showed that there were no other moving vehicles in the area at the time and the deceased had taken no evasive action.

He confirmed that no criminal prosecution arose out of the circumstances of the fatal collision.

Sgt O’Donnell told the coroner that he did not believe the type of vehicle involved in the crash was allowed to be used on public roads.

Recording a verdict of death by misadventure, Dr Gallagher observed that the inherent risk of using such vehicles might not be perceived by young people who can feel invincible.

“It highlights the risk of machines that are much quieter than traditional motorbikes. Maybe people feel they are less dangerous but they need a certain level of skill and expertise to operate them,” she added.

Offering her condolences to Seán’s family on such an extremely tragic incident, the coroner said she could see the impact it had on his friends and those who helped him on the night.