The scene of the crash in Mayo on New Year’s Day
High alcohol levels in one of the two drivers killed in a two-vehicle crash in Ballina in Mayo in the early hours of New Year’s Day last was a significant factor in their deaths, an inquest has heard.
Terence Beagan (43), a recording-studio director from Ravensdale, Dundalk, Co Louth, and Gearóid Ó Scolaí (47), a taxi driver of 129 Childers Heighs, Ballina, were killed instantly when a Mercedes Benz coupe driven by Mr Beagan veered across onto Mr Ó Scolaí’s side of the road and collided head-on with him.
The accident took place on the main N26 Foxford to Ballina road at Ballinahaglish, Ballina, at approximately 4.40am on January 1 last.
Mr Beagan was driving in the direction of Foxford and, more specifically, the Mount Falcon Hotel where he was staying, while Mr Ó Scolaí was returning to Ballina after dropping off a fare at a local B&B.
Last Thursday’s inquest into their deaths in Ballina Courthouse heard that Mr Beagan was over four times the legal limit for driving on the night in question. He had been ringing in the New Year with his partner and friends at Mount Falcon. There were also traces of cocaine found in his system.
Mr Ó Scolaí had no drugs or alcohol in his system, the inquest heard.
Mr Terry Beagan RIP
The inquest heard from ambulance driver Eddie Scully who was driving behind Mr Ó Scolaí at the time of impact and who swerved in order to avoid the collision himself.
Eddie Scully told the inquest he noticed an oncoming car, Mr Beagan’s Mercedes Benz Coupe which ‘suddenly veered at what appeared to be a 45 degree angle’ and ‘collided heavily’ with Mr Ó Scolaí’s Skoda Superb.
Scully and his colleague checked both cars and found no sign of life from either driver and they were pronounced dead at the scene.
Sergeant Gabriel McLoughlin said an examination of the scene could not determine the speed of Mr Beagan’s car but that its ‘momentum’ had pushed Mr Ó Scolaí’s car some 12 metres from the point of impact.
CCTV footage from a nearby Topaz filling station and from inside Mount Falcon was ‘largely unclear’ said Garda Kevin Carey, but CCTV footage outside the hotel showed Mr Ó Scolaí collecting a fare at the hotel and turning in the direction of Foxford. Shortly afterwards the CCTV showed Mr Beagan walk towards a car with a suitcase and head in the direction of Ballina.
Donal Franks and his wife were that fare, Mr Ó Scolaí’s last, and his statement to the inquest said he was brought a short distance along the main road in the direction of Foxford and into his B&B. He wished the couple a happy new year as he dropped them off before heading back towards Ballina.
A statement was read into the court from Alan Maloney, the owner of Mount Falcon, which was at odds with evidence given by Karen McHugh, Terence Beagan’s partner, and a childhood friend of Maloney’s.
Mr Maloney said he met Mr Beagan briefly and spent time ‘catching up’ with Karen McHugh and her sister, Fiona. He said he ‘did not recall’ Mr Beagen being in their company often.
He said Mr Beagan left before Karen McHugh, who told Mr Beagan to walk to their lodge on the grounds and not to drive, as he was ‘fairly drunk’. Mr Maloney said Ms McHugh then left at 3am.
However this was disputed by Karen McHugh and also by her friend, Clodagh Keating.
Karen McHugh told the inquest that there were ‘no arguments or tensions’ at all during the night between Mr Beagan and her, that they both went to bed at 2.45am and that he was ‘in good form’. Ms McHugh said she did not wake again until she heard knocking at the door and was informed Terence was dead.
Pathologist Dr Fadel Bennani told the court that Gearóid Ó Scolaí died from massive internal injuries to his chest, heart, lung and liver. Terence Beagan died as a result of a fracture of the part of his spinal cord which connects to the skull, resulting in instant death.
The toxicology report showed no trace of alcohol or drugs in Gearóid Ó Scolaí but Dr Bennani described the alcohol levels in Terence Beagan as ‘very high’: 210 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 50 micrograms.
Along with traces of cocaine, a drug which was once a prescription drug in the 1970s but was withdrawn from human use in the 1980s was found in his system. Dr Bennani said the drug is used in veterinary medicine now and was possibly a mixing agent for the cocaine.
The jury returned a verdict of accidental death due to injuries in a road traffic accident in relation to Gearóid Ó Scolaí, and a verdict of accidental death with contributing factors of excess alcohol and drugs in his system in relation to Terence Beagan.
Coroner for North Mayo Dr Eleanor Fitzgerald said the deaths were ‘very sad and tragic’, particularly as they had happened on the first day of the new year.
Both men had sustained ‘horrific injuries’ which would have led to ‘instant death’, Dr Fitzgerald said.
She said ‘we will never know’ why Mr Beagan crossed the road at speed due to ‘gaps in evidence’.
She added the alcohol and drugs in Mr Beagen’s system were ‘strong contributing factors’ in the accident. She said the accident ‘would not have occurred’ if those levels of alcohol were not present.
The Coroner and the gardaí extended their sympathies to family and friends in court of both victims.
Mr Beagan was a director at a recording studio, Loop Studios, based at North Lotts in Dublin. He had also helped set up a local radio station for the Ringsend and Irishtown Community Centre (RICC) in 2011.
He is survived by his mother Maeve, father Terence, brother Michael and sister Joanne.
The Beagan family are well known for their customs business on the Newry Road in Dundalk.
Source: The Mayo News
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