Cork woman admits losing control of car

A CORK woman who is charged with dangerous driving causing the deaths of two men has admitted she lost control of her car as she tried to overtake another car.

Theresa Dingivan (20), Pearse Square, Fermoy, is pleading not guilty to dangerous driving causing the deaths of Michael Murphy (22) and James Sexton (19) at Strawhall, Fermoy, on August 5th, 2007.

Cork Circuit Criminal Court heard on Monday that the car seemed to vanish in a cloud of smoke and dust after it crashed into a pillar about 3km outside Fermoy. Alcohol was not a factor.

The court heard yesterday that the two victims were ejected from the rear seat of the car on impact; they did not appear to have been wearing seat belts.

Ms Dingivan, in a statement to gardaí two days after the crash, said she had owned the 13-year-old Honda Civic for only two months before the incident and was on a provisional licence. Her boyfriend had checked the car out when she bought it and she had had no problems with it.

On the day in question, she spent the afternoon and evening in a bar in Fermoy with a group that included her sister Bridget, James Sexton, Michael Murphy and Cillian Smith. Everybody else was drinking alcohol but she was drinking 7Up. She left the pub with her sister to drop the three men into Fermoy where they planned to continue drinking.

Ms Dingivan said she, her sister and Mr Smith were wearing seat belts, but that was all she could remember. She was not in a rush but decided to overtake a silver car which was only doing about 35km/h. When she tried to pull back into her lane, the steering wheel kept pulling out and she lost control and hit a wall.

She would not consider herself an experienced driver, but said “I know what I’m doing, like”.

Forensic pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster said both men died of injuries sustained in the incident. When asked by the defence whether the fact the two victims may not have been wearing seat belts would have made a difference to their chances of survival, Dr Bolster said that was a very difficult question to answer.

The trial continues today.