Woman struck in hit-and-run flung 9ft into air, inquest told

A woman struck in a hit-and-run incident was flung 9ft into the air as her shocked partner looked on helplessly, an inquest heard.

Caroline Watkins (40), from Lally Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10, was fatally struck by a car while crossing the road at the Goldenbridge Luas stop on Davitt Road in Drimnagh on May 30th last year.

Dublin Coroner’s Court heard the car was travelling over the speed limit, no brakes were applied and it continued on without slowing down following the impact.

Gardaí­ found the vehicle involved but were unable to establish who was driving it when the incident happened.

Ms Watkins and her partner Ray Harcourt had been on their way home from a pub in Inchicore at about 10.30pm that night and decided to walk to Davitt Road to get a taxi.

Pedestrian crossing

When they reached the Goldenbridge Luas stop, they got to the edge of a pedestrian crossing and waited.

Mr Harcourt said that he was checking to see whether it was safe to cross when Ms Watkins stepped out onto the road.

“The next thing I knew I just heard a dead sound. It wasn’t even like a bang. Before I could even turn or say anything, I saw Caroline flying through the air at a height of 8 or 9ft at a guess. She was spinning horizontally… She never made a sound,” he said.

Ms Watkins landed about 30ft away. The court heard she was struck by the bumper of the car, then the bonnet and windscreen before being propelled forward.

No pulse

When paramedics attended the scene, she had no pulse. She was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at St James’s Hospital.

A postmortem was carried out by State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy, who found Ms Watkins died of multiple injuries caused by the impact.

Coroner Dr Brian Farrell said the injuries were "not survivable".

The court heard from Nikita McGrane, who was in a different car approaching the pedestrian crossing at the time, that oncoming traffic had the green light when the incident happened.

CCTV footage

Forensic collision investigator Garda Edward Davin said CCTV footage indicated the car that struck Ms Watkins was travelling at 58km/h on approach to the pedestrian crossing.

The speed limit in the area is 50km/h.

Another vehicle may have masked the oncoming car from Ms Watkins as she crossed, he told the court.

He said there was nothing on the CCTV footage to show the driver “slowed down appreciably”. There was no effort at braking, he added, and the footage did not show the driver stopping.

DNA testing

Gardaí­ recovered the vehicle and, via DNA testing, confirmed it was the car that struck Ms Watkins.

Dr Farrell said it is his understanding that the registered owner of the car had sold it on and, when interviewed, the buyer said he was not driving the car.

Det Insp Liam Kelly said a person believed to be the driver was arrested and a file was sent to the DPP, who returned directions of no prosecution in the matter. The investigation remains open.

The jury returned a narrative verdict that Ms Watkins died in a “hit-and-run road traffic collision”.