INQUEST: A jury returned a majority decision verdict at the coroner’s court yesterday afternoon at the inquest of Robert ‘Bobby’ Rodgers.
Robert Rodgers, 22, died on May 6th, 2012, when the vehicle he was a passenger in crashed at Murlog, Lifford.
Eunan McBrearty, the man who was driving the vehicle on that tragic day in May, 2012, was jailed earlier this year for causing the death of Robert Rodgers by dangerous driving.
He was present at the inquest and was led into the coroner’s court in handcuffs having been taking from prison that morning.
Paul Carlin, another passenger in the vehicle that day outlined the details of that dreadful day in his deposition which was read out to the jury.
Mr Carlin said, “I went over to Anne-Marie Rodgers house, who was my girlfriend at around 11pm, I had eight tins of Carlsberg with me, and I brought her two bottles of wine.
“We were sitting have a few drinks, and then Anne-Marie’s brother Bobby Rodgers and Eunan McBrearty arrived.
“They went away to get a carry out, they came back and we all continued drinking, then a white bag was taken out and put on the table, I knew it was coke, because I had taken it before, I had about two lines of it, I took them about twenty minutes apart.
“Eunan told us about he had bought a Red Astra earlier that evening, we carried on drinking and then Anne-Marie went to bed.
“We then went next door to Anne Marie’s friends house and had a good few drinks with them, then we went back to Anne Marie’s, I think it was around 9am at that stage.
“We then went to Eunan’s house, he wanted to get money, he was driving the car, neither me or Bobby Rodgers could drive.
“We tried getting into a few bars around Lifford and Strabane but we couldn’t get in, then we got into Joe’s Bar and had a few halves, I was drinking Morgan Spice.
“We were playing pool, and I was brave and drunk, I remember the bar man saying to us had you boys not had enough.
“We then left, and Eunan drove again, we went to Kernan’s filling station for fags and bumped into Anne-Marie’s ex John, he had two wains with her and a few words were exchanged.
“We then went to my mum’s house, and she was mad because we all had drink taken, I wanted to go to Anne Marie’s house, so we headed for Newton.
“I don’t remember anything after that, don’t remember going through Lifford, all I remember is waking up in hospital talking to a priest.”
The coroner’s court then heard from Eunan McBrearty, who like Paul Carlin had his deposition read out for him.
He recalled the events of that day, “I was taken to Churchill by a friend to buy a car, it was a Burgundy Opel Astra, took it for a test drive and decided I wanted to buy it.
“I don’t recall the name of the man who sold me the car, but I gave him €175 for it.
“I signed the logbook and I went to Bobby Rodgers’s house, and then we then went on to his sister’s house from there.
“We drank all night and I remember drinking beer and having vodka, then after that my mind goes blank, I don’t remember anything until after I woke up in hospital.
“I don’t remember taking drugs that night, I used to smoke cannabis but I didn’t do it much, I had no insurance on the car because I had just bought it the previous day, and I had no license because I lost my license in court a year ago.”
The coroner’s court then heard the deposition from the deceased’s sister Anne-Marie Rodgers.
“Paul came around to mine around 11, and we had a few drinks, I was chatting to Bobby on Facebook earlier that evening and him and Eunan McBrearty called round.
“We were all sitting around and having the craic, Paul then left with Eunan to go to his brother’s house after 12, and they came back about half an hour later.
“I went to bed around 2, but I told them they could all lie here for the night, I woke up around 10am, and the boys were already gone.
“I then got a call from my ex-boyfriend John, he said he had a bit of a row with Bobby and the lads at the filling station.
“He then rang back and said there had been a bad accident in Lifford, and the car involved sounded like it was the one Bobby had been in, him and Bobby were friendly because we had gone out for so long.
“Not long after, John arrived at my house and told me the bad news, I went to the crash site along with my other brothers and I identified my brother at the scene.”
The court heard that post mortem results carried out on Robert Rodgers showed that he had died instantly as a result of a fracture to the skull.
It was a severe head injury which was consistent with road traffic accidents, and he also had suffered a broken jaw in the smash.
He also had sustained a huge tear in his liver, and the court were told that even if he hadn’t of suffered the fracture to the skull, he wouldn’t have survived the damage done to his liver.
The jury were instructed by the coroner to follow the precedent set by the criminal investigation into the incident which returned a verdict of Death by Dangerous driving.
The jury returned and told the court that they had a reached a majority decision and determined that Mr Rodgers had died as a result of dangerous driving.
In his summarization Coroner Dr McCauley said, “This is a tragic, tragic case, a story of three friends going out and only two coming home.
“It’s very sad, and it’s never easy when such a young life is taken away so soon, I offer my sincerest of condolences to you all, this really was a terrible tragedy.
Sup David Kelly offered his condolences on behalf of all An Garda Siochana.
He said, “I hope this brings you closure now today, the state involvement in your lives is over.
“Life goes on, and while it won’t ever be the same again, I hope you can all get closure from this and again I offer the sincerest of condolences to you all.”
Verdict: Death by Dangerous Driving.
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