Waterford Courthouse: Emotionally charged trial concludes with bus driver guilty of dangerous driving causing deaths of teenage boys
Gilbert Collins and Avuzwa Sampo died in the crash involving an e-scooter and a bus.
After three hours and 29 minutes of deliberation, Adrian Doyle was found guilty by a jury of his peers on Tuesday of dangerous driving causing death, following a collision which resulted in the deaths of two teenagers.
The incident occurred on the Cork Road in the city at approximately 2am on June 27, 2024.
Gilbert Collins, age 15, and Avuzwa Sampo, age 17, were both riding on a single e-scooter on the road that morning, when a JJ Kavanagh & Sons bus driven by Adrian Doyle (43), of Ard Glas, Ferrybank, collided with them from behind, killing them both.
Doyle was driving 77km/h in a 50km/h zone.
The emotionally charged jury trial featured a significant amount of CCTV footage, including dashcam footage from the bus, which showed the moment of the collision.
The footage elicited a strong reaction of distress from family members of the deceased when played in the courtroom.
Judge Eugene O'Kelly said he was conscious that the dashcam footage was graphic and may have had a traumatic impact on the 12 jurors.
Therefore, after delivering their verdict, he excused them for life from further jury duty.
At approximately 2am, on June 27, 2024, Adrian Doyle was driving a JJ Kavanagh & Sons bus on the Cork Road towards Waterford city centre.
He was the sole occupant of the bus at the time, and was on route to his first pickup of the night at South East Technological University.
A single e-scooter, driven by Avuzwa Sampo, with Gilbert Collins a passenger, was travelling in the same direction and on the same side of the road as the bus.
The boys were travelling from Snap Fitness, a gym located close to the scene where they had been earlier that morning.
1.3 seconds before the collision, both the bus and the e-scooter veered right, towards the middle line of the road. Upon impact, the bus was travelling 77km/h in a 50km/h zone.
A man who had been working the night shift at a nearby business said he heard glass smashing and went to investigate.
He recalls being in a state of shock and feeling sick at what he saw on the road.
He saw the driver of the bus on the road and asked him: "What the f*ck happened?"
The driver, Adrian Doyle, was already on the phone to gardaí.
Gardaí on patrol in the city and stationed at Waterford Garda Station arrived to the scene shortly after.
They observed considerable damage to the windscreen of the bus. The undercarriage was also damaged, consistent with the vehicle driving over the e-scooter after the impact.
Gilbert Collins was found deceased on the road. Avuzwa Sampo was found face down on a grass verge near a footpath. He was unresponsive and was transferred by ambulance to University Hospital Waterford. He did not survive his injuries.
There was debris, glass and items of clothing strewn across the road. The main stem of the e-scooter was snapped off.
Gardaí who interacted with Adrian Doyle on the roadside said that he was in a highly distressed state and was very animated.
A drugs and alcohol test was administered at the scene, with negative results.
A defining moment of the trial came when CCTV footage of the collision was played for the jury.
Prior to the footage being played, Judge Eugene O’Kelly warned the jury and family members of the deceased in the courtroom that the content might be graphic in nature.
The moment of collision was captured clearly via onboard dashcam footage from the bus.
This footage showed the two boys veer to the centre of the road, before an immediate shattering of the front windscreen upon impact.
The moment of the collision prompted a strong emotional reaction from family members of the deceased in the courtroom, with audible expressions of distress.
A number of family members exited the court after seeing the footage.
During an interview with gardaí after the collision, Doyle said he had no health issues, no difficulties sleeping and no serious problems in his life that would have impacted his work that morning.
He told gardaí that he suddenly hit something on the road, but that he didn’t know what it was. He initially thought it could have been an animal.
Evidence provided during the trial outlined that the two boys were wearing dark clothing, and their e-scooter had no lights.
Defence counsel for Mr Doyle, Ms Kate Egan SC, said in her closing speech to the jury that her client had no option, and he couldn’t have avoided them.
"He is fighting for his life,” Ms Egan said.
He is a single man, unmarried, and his occupation as a bus driver was very important to him.
She said that Mr Doyle is “appalled” by the incident, and that he recalls the CCTV footage in his mind every time he closes his eyes.
“Make no mistake, he is suffering, and he has been punished plenty,” Ms Egan said.
Ms Egan said there was no risk of injury prior to “those poor kids” veering towards the centre of the road.
Unlike the majority of criminal cases, which involve guilty, or not guilty verdicts, this particular case also included an alternative verdict option.
Legislation dictates that the charge of dangerous driving causing death can be downgraded to a lesser offence; careless driving causing death, if a jury decide to do so.
The jury of nine men and three women in this case decided not to downgrade the charge, and on the morning of Tuesday, November 10, the jury found Doyle guilty of dangerous driving causing death.
He will now be remanded on bail until January 13.
A sentencing date will be fixed thereafter.
Judge O'Kelly has directed the procurement of victim impact statements.
