A 20 year old Fermanagh man has gone on trial at the Crown Court in Dungannon charged with causing the death of his friend by dangerous driving.

Gavin Francis Magee from Tullycreevy, Monea is pleading 'not guilty' to the charge of dangerous driving causing the death of Adrian James Cassidy on 2nd February 2006.

In his opening statement, counsel for the prosecution told the jury how the deceased died when the vehicle, in which he was the only passenger, crashed while driving along the Shankill Road, a small country road near Monea. The car left the road and travelled a distance along a hedge before striking a tree on its driver's side, which brought the vehicle to a stop.

Both men in the car received serious injuries and Adrian Cassidy, who was 18 years old at the time, died as a result of his injuries.

The prosecution explained that dangerous driving, in this case, related to driving a vehicle in an unroadworthy condition and not the manner of the driving of the defendant.

The barrister explained that if it would be obvious to a competent and careful driver that driving a vehicle (such as this one) in its current state would be a danger to personal injury or to property, then this constitutes dangerous driving.

The prosecution further explained that the defendant was the driver of the Toyota GT Corolla coupe (Twin Cam) car involved in this case and that the jury must be sure that the dangerous driving of the defendant was a cause in the death of Adrian Cassidy. He told them it didn't have to be the principal cause, just a cause.

The road, where the crash occurred, was described as being straight and undulating.

The jury heard that the seats had been removed from the Toyota Corolla car and a motorsports 'bucket seat' had been fixed in the car for the driver, and this was the only seat in the vehicle.

When examined, it was discovered that the car's rear tyres lacked tread and one was in a particularly bad condition.

The prosecution told the jury that there was no evidence the car had been travelling too fast for the road and, therefore, speed wasn't regarded as a major factor in how the car came to leave the road.

The impact of the crash was on the driver's side and, the prosecution explained, that if the passenger had been strapped into a seat the forces caused by the crash would have been lower and this would have increased the passenger's chance of surviving the crash.

'SLICKS'

The jury heard evidence from Constable Colm Gordon Moore, who is attached to Road Policing Rural in Omagh.

He filmed a video, which was shown to the court, of the road along which the fatal accident occurred.

Constable Moore said he examined the car after the crash and noted there was substantial damage to the vehicle, mostly on the off-side (driver's side).

Constable Moore noted the two rear tyres of the vehicle were 'slicks' - had no tread. There was a racing harness fitted on the driver's side but no passenger seat, or restraint.

The court heard from Alan Gault, who lived near the scene of the accident and attended the scene shortly after the crash.

When Mr Gault looked into the car, which was lying on its side, he saw the body of a young man lying over a seat in the car. He then made out the top of the driver's head but the driver was unable to communicate with him.

Mark Curry, an Emergency Medical Technician, who arrived at the scene at 21.49 on the evening of 2nd February said he removed the body of a young man from the car through a rear window.

Mr Curry checked for signs of life but none was present. The deceased was taken to the mortuary at the Erne Hospital where Michael Bernard Cassidy identified the body of his son, Adrian James Cassidy, at approximately 00.50 hours on 3rd February 2006.

Peter J Ingram, the Assistant State Pathologist, carried out an autopsy on Adrian Cassidy and concluded that death was a result of multiple injuries caused in a collision. The coroner concluded that extensive fractures of the skull and facial bones and the extrusion of the brain in the cranial cavity would have led to a rapid death.

Inspector Ian Kennedy arrived at the scene at 10.25 where he was briefed about what had happened. He described the road as narrow with no road markings. He said it was a dark but dry night.

Asked by the defence about the collision initially being reported as a two-car accident, Inspector Kennedy said there was 'no physical evidence to suggest that the twin cam Corolla had been involved in an accident with another car'. He also said there was no physical debris to support this.

Sergeant Joanne Laird told the court that when she arrived at the scene she seized a number of items from the crashed car, including the two rear wheels and tyres and ensured these were delivered to the Forensic Science Officer.

Sergeant Laird told the court that she arrested the defendant on 30th March 2006 for causing death by dangerous driving. She then interviewed the defendant at the Enniskillen Police Station, in the presence of Barry Lynam, solicitor, and Constable John McConnell.

A transcript of the interview was read to the jury by Sergeant Laird and the prosecuting counsel.

During the initial interview, the Court was told, the defendant said he couldn't remember anything about the accident or about the evening the accident occurred.

He told police he remembered being at work that day and the next thing he remembered was waking up in Altnagelvin Hospital.

The defendant told police he lived about a mile to mile and a half from where the accident occurred and that he knew the road (on which the accident happened) well. He bought the car as a rally car about a week before the accident.

He said he bought it to get it right for the road, telling police his brother and father were mechanics.

The court heard that the defendant bought the car with two seats in it but only one - the driver's seat - was bolted in. The driver's seat had a harness attached to it but, the defendant told police during his interview, that he intended to take this (driver's) seat out to paint the car.

Asked had he changed the tyres before he drove it, the defendant said he was to change the tyres.

The defendant admitted, during interview, that he was driving the car. When questioned about whether the car was roadworthy, he told police he believed that the car was more suitable to be on the road because of the rally car roll cage and the fact it had a fire extinguisher fitted.

The defendant told police he couldn't recollect seeing his friend Adrian Cassidy that day at all.

NO RECOLLECTION

On 24th August 2006 a second interview was conducted with the defendant, and again he told police he couldn't recollect the incident at all.

During this interview he told police he'd been interested in rallying since he was a 'cub', and when asked what he had to do to the car, he told them it had to be Mot'd and taxed.

Asked about the tyres and would be have considered them to be in a roadworthy condition he said, "Well, not really no'.

The defendant said he didn't check the tyres that evening but he did check them the day he bought the car.

When police put it to him that he had taken his friend for a run in the car without a seat, the defendant said; 'I don't know why he was in the car. I don't remember him being in the car.'

Cross-examining the witness, Sergeant Laird, the defence counsel asked had the accident initially been reported as a two-car accident. She said it had.

"There is no suggestion, or no evidence, that another vehicle was involved," said Sergeant Laird.

Sergeant Laird said there was no evidence to suggest that the driving was dangerous. It was more the condition of the vehicle the defendant was driving.

The court heard from Steven Quinn, Senior Scientific Officer, who investigated the accident and visited the scene of the fatal accident. He then tried to determine the sequence of events and compiled a report on the accident.

Mr Quinn told the jury that he found both rear tyres were totally devoid of tread, with the rear nearside being completely unworthy, with its structure broken in places and the offside (driver's side) tyre had its wires exposed.

He said the particularly bad condition of the driver's side rear tyre could aggravate the situation, relating to the loss of control of the car.

Mr Quinn explained how there was a crest and a dip before the crash scene and that there was a tyre track on the grass verge not far from a 'severe' dip.

He said the tyre mark was in line with the broken hedgerow and that 21 feet of the hedge was damaged.

In his opinion, the car hit the hedge and then rotated anti-clockwise with the driver's side coming around to impact against the tree, which stopped the car's motion.

The case continues.