A teenage cyclist who died in a road traffic crash in Dublin's south inner city was already dead on the ground when he was hit by a Luas tram. While it was thought at the time of Cormac Ó Braonáin's death that he had been killed due to being struck by the tram, that was not the case, his inquest has heard.
State pathologist Dr Heidi Okkers concluded he died from compression to his neck at the scene. She said the level of alcohol in Mr Ó Braonáin's system was very high and would have prevented him moving when he crashed off his bike on the tram tracks at St Peter’s Place, Dublin 2, just after 3am on December 15th, 2019.
Dr Okkers then withdrew the finding at the inquest that alcohol was a contributing factor in the death of the teenager from Windy Arbour, who was on his way home after a night out at a 21st party when he died. Dr Okkers withdrew that finding under questioning by Conor Halpin SC, for the Ó Braonáin family, after he suggested the deceased may have lost consciousness and so been unable to move from the scene.
Advertisement
Related News
The postmortem on the remains of the victim - the chair of Labour Youth and a UCD medical science and international relations student - showed he died due to neck compression at the scene of the crash on the tracks before being hit by the tram, which caused fractures to his ribs.
The driver of the tram, whose statement was presented at the coroners court, said he saw what he thought was a bag of rubbish on the tracks. He turned on the full beam of the tram's lights to get a better view - on a segregated area of the tracks near the Harcourt Luas stop.
The driver then immediately applied the emergency brake when he saw a bike and helmet on the tracks. However, the tram still hit Mr Ó Braonáin. When the postmortem showed his rib fractures occurred after he had already died, the possibility the impact of the tram crash had led to his death was ruled out.
The inquest jury returned a verdict of accidental death. They recommended Transdev, which runs the Luas service, carry out a risk assessment where the crash occurred, adding this should include assessing lighting and signage at that stretch of tracks.
