'His foot was in the bumper' - trial of careless driving ongoing in Waterford
The trial is being held at Waterford Courthouse.
A trial is ongoing in Waterford concerning a man accused of careless driving resulting in serious bodily harm.
A motorcyclist suffered a horrific injury after colliding with a car in The Folly, Waterford. The man lost his leg, broke his elbow and had to undergo extensive rehabilitation treatment.
The incident occurred on the afternoon of July 2, 2023, outside The Sacred Heart Church in The Folly on the R709, when a silver Volkswagen Polo collided with a red Honda motorcycle. The driver of the vehicle is currently on trial for careless driving contrary to both Section 52 (1) of the Road Traffic Act.
Frank Power (67), of Ballyduff, Kilmeadan, pleaded not guilty to the charge. He is being represented by barrister Gareth Hayden BL under the instruction of solicitor John Purcell.
A jury are deliberating over the single charge of careless driving after several days of listening to evidence and witness testimony.
The case was opened by prosecutor Shane O'Callaghan BL, acting on behalf of the State with Judge Eugene O'Kelly presiding.
Forensic collision investigator Garda Maurice Mahon was alerted to the collision. When he arrived on the scene, he carried out a detailed analysis of the area. Garda Mahon photographed the scene, marked 'body samples' i.e. blood, debris, and other markings on the road, and the placements of the vehicles.
The jury was presented with aerial maps and scale drawings of the scene. In the documents, the Polo car was stopped at an angle between the hard shoulder and the cycle lane. Body samples were marked on the far left side of the Newtown-bound carriageway. The motorbike was on its side roughly 23 metres ahead of the car on the other side of the road, in the direction of Waterford City. According to Garda Mahon, the front right-hand side of the car hit the middle part of the motorbike at an angle, and the car rolled back after the collision.
Garda Aisling Laughlin was the first Garda officer to attend the scene. She described seeing the motorcyclist "in a pool of blood" and surrounded by "four females".
Garda Laughlin took off her belt to use as a tourniquet on the injured party's leg. The officer took photographs of the Volkswagen car, including photos of a severed foot lodged in the right-hand side of the bumper.
Crime scene investigator Garda Bill Mernagh gave evidence at the trial. He conducted tests on both the Volkswagen car and Honda motorbike. He found the motorbike to be in good condition. He claimed that the 20-year-old Volkswagen vehicle "wouldn't pass an NCT" but that didn't contribute to the collision.
The motorcyclist gave evidence from the stand. He told the court that he was on the way to Ardkeen library on the day - "it was a beautiful, sunny day" - and drove his bike from the St John's Park area. He said: "I went up The Folly and a car suddenly came from the left and hit me. It was a tremendous bang and I was thrown to the ground."
He continued: "I was laying on the ground, people came up to me, I remember people telling me not to move. Someone put a tourniquet on my leg, probably saved my life."
The man was brought to University Hospital Waterford, where his left leg was amputated below the knee. He also suffered a broken elbow.
Mr Hayden asked the injured party if he may have been driving in the cycle lane of the road, which he denied, saying: "No, that's not possible. I've gone up and down that road thousands of times."
Mr Hayden then went on to ask if he was wearing reinforced motorcycle boots while driving. The man said that he had those boots but on July 3, he was wearing runners because boots were for "going for a spin, not to the shop".
On the second day of the trial, two witnesses gave evidence on the stand. The first witness John Trainor told the court "it was a fine day" with little traffic in The Folly. Mr Trainor explained that he stopped his car on the hard shoulder of The Sacred Heart church to buy strawberries from a kiosk located there. He parked his vehicle "3-4 feet" away from the Polo car. As he was buying strawberries, he heard a bang and upon turning around saw the motorcyclist skidding across the road. The witness ran towards the motorbike.
"Unfortunately when I looked down his foot was gone, his leg was gone."
Mr Trainor described phoning the emergency services and being instructed on what to do. He said: "I was telling the lady, that was fairly horrific... she asked me to find his foot. I saw his foot on the bumper. I told her his foot is gone."
Second witness Martina McCarthy told the jury that on the day of the collision, she was on the way to lunch with a colleague when they saw the man laying on the road. Ms McCarthy, trained in first aid, went to the injured party to help.
She said: "I told my colleague to get my first aid kit in my car. [The injured party] just said: 'A car pulled out in front of me.' I could see his left leg, he was shaking it, going 'my leg, my leg'. He didn't know it was gone."
Ms McCarthy called the emergency services and kept talking to the man, trying to keep him awake and staunching the blood loss.
In November 2023, the accused man was cautioned by Gardaí and gave a voluntary memo without a solicitor. He told Gardaí that he parked on the hard shoulder of The Folly to buy strawberries at the kiosk.
"I proceeded to pull out to avoid the car parked in front. When I pulled the car out I saw a person passing me."
