A Co Antrim woman has been found not guilty of causing the death of a motorcyclist by careless driving.
District Judge Nigel Broderick said Wesley James West (80) died when his Honda motorcycle collided with the Audi driven by Louise Omelvena but that he had to assess whether it had been proven beyond reasonable doubt that Ms Omelvena was criminally responsible.
Having heard evidence from witnesses at the scene, two expert engineers and Ms Omelvena (42) at Ballymena Magistrates Court on Monday, the judge said the tragic outcome came down to a matter of seconds.
Judge Broderick said the prosecution’s case boiled down to whether the defendant took too long to look left and right or whether she edged out too far from the “extremely difficult” junction – in the Glenwherry townland area of Co Antrim.
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He said he has “every sympathy for the West family and their tragic loss”.
“She [Ms Omelvena] was going to church with her children; in no way was she driving recklessly or dangerously or carelessly,” Judge Broderick said. “If we could all turn the clock back, then, of course, none of this would have happened, but in all the circumstances, given the minute nature of the alleged carelessness attributed to the defendant: a matter of seconds, I can’t be satisfied that meets the criminal standard.”
Ms Omelvena, from the Ballynulto Road in Ballymena, had always denied causing the death of Mr West by careless driving on May 7th, 2023.
The court heard Mr West was travelling along the Church Road when Ms Omelvena pulled out of a junction and collided with him.
Despite the impact occurring at a relatively low speed, Mr West died from his injuries.
The defendant gave evidence that knowing how difficult the junction is, she had looked right, saw it was clear and then looked left.
She told the court that having seen it was clear to the left, she began to edge out. When she turned back to the right she saw Mr West approaching so she stopped, believing he had enough room to get past, she said.
Mr West had been travelling at an estimated 50m/hr to 60m/hr, and evidence from expert engineers suggested he would have covered the distance between the crest and the point of impact, in 3.5 to five seconds.
Ms Omelvena’s checks as she edged out would likely have taken her about three seconds, the court heard.
“I did look and it was clear and I started to move out,” Ms Omelvena told the prosecutor under cross-examination. “I approached the junction carefully and moved out carefully … I don’t know what else I could have done.”
Describing Ms Omelvena as a reliable and credible witness, Judge Broderick said it was clear Mr West had done absolutely nothing wrong “and it’s with great regret that, unfortunately, he sustained fatal injuries”.
“I know this may be a disappointing result for the West family, but I hope they can take some solace from an examination of all the evidence in the case,” the judge said. “This has been a tragic accident, but not one to which I could attribute criminal liability to the defendant.”
