A man told his wife that he wanted them to die together shortly before his car ploughed into an articulated lorry near Knock, Co Mayo, last June, an inquest in Castlebar was told yesterday.
Amer Ashfaq (29), Clare Road, Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo, a meat-worker originally from Pakistan, had problems with work permits and money, his widow, Ms Nosheem Amer, said in a statement which was read at the inquest into his death.
Ms Amer (21), who did not attend, said in the statement that at about 3 a.m. on the morning of his death, she had a row with her husband and he hit her on the head and hand. At 4.30 a.m. he cut his neck with a knife and afterwards told his wife that they would both be better off dead.
"He said he and I could not live. He was mentally upset every day because he had small pay and could not give me enough things for life. He had work permit problems and financial problems.
"He was ashamed that he hit me and said we were both better off dead. He wanted me and him to go in the car and said that he would kill both of us. He thinks everybody will blame him for hitting me." Ms Amer and Mr Ashfaq were married four months before his death. They moved to Ireland last May.
Mr Jim Johnston, a semi-retired lorry driver from Enniskillen, told the inquest that on the morning of the accident, he was travelling to Galway in a transporter owned by his son to collect four cars.
Near Knock, he was travelling on a straight stretch of road when he saw a car coming in the opposite direction.
"The oncoming car was coming very fast," Mr Johnston said. "When it reached me it went straight across in front of the lorry. There was an awful bang and everything went quiet. It happened so fast and was over in an instant."
On the recommendation of the coroner, Mr John O'Dwyer, an inquest jury returned a verdict of accidental death in accordance with the medical evidence. While there was evidence of self-inflicted death or suicide, it had not been proven beyond reasonable doubt.
Mr O'Dwyer expressed sympathy with Mr Ashfaq's widow and relatives.
He also sympathised with Mr Johnson for the shock and injuries he had sustained and told him he had been completely blameless.