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Town clerk's car taken without
consent
15.12.09
by Linda McGrory
A CAR belonging to a senior Buncrana council
official was taken without his permission by a
lodger before it was involved in an horrific crash
killing five, an inquest has heard.
The 1994-registered maroon-coloured Audi, belonging
to the now-retired town clerk, Paul Doyle, was taken
by Danielius Abartis (23) a Latvian man who was
staying at Mr Doyle's home along with a number of
other non-national men.
An inquest in Carndonagh on Friday heard how Mr
Abartis was over the legal alcohol limit when the
Audi was involved in a head-on crash three miles
outside Buncrana in the early hours of Saturday,
February 18, 2006. Mr Abartis died instantly in the
accident.
The four others who were killed were Aija Porcika
(38), her daughter Ginta Veite (19); Marita Kerpe
(28) and Ricardas Bielskis (35).
Ms Porcika, her daughter, Ms Kerpe and Mr Bielskis,
who was driving, were all travelling to Buncrana in
a white Volkswagen Vento, after collecting Ms Veite
from Dublin Airport. They were just three miles from
their destination when the crash occurred. |
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The inquest examined
the deaths of Ms Porcika, a divorced mother of one
from Latvia, living in Buncrana; Mr Bielskis, a
father of one who was from Lithuania but was living
and working in Burnfoot, Co Donegal, and Mr Abartis,
also from Latvia, who was working in construction in
Buncrana. He was unmarried but his girlfriend was
pregnant in Latvia. Ms Veite and Latvian
mother-of-two Ms Kerpe both died at Altnagelvin
Hospital within hours of the crash and, therefore,
their inquests cannot be heard in the Republic. |
Garda Paul Mannion told
the inquest he was on duty in the patrol van with
two other officers that night. They were parked in
Buncrana town centre, when the Audi erratically
drove past around 4.05am. Garda Mannion said the
officers witnessed the vehicle glance off a parked
car 100 yards down the street. He said they
suspected the driver was intoxicated and gave chase.
He told the court, sitting at Carndonagh public
services centre, the car reached very high speeds
and eventually went out of view as it left the town
on the main Buncrana to Derry road. They radioed for
a garda checkpoint to be set up further ahead.
Garda Mannion said as they rounded a sweeping bend
at Beach Halt, Fahan, they came upon the Audi on its
side in the middle of the road. The badly smashed
white Vento was on the hard shoulder facing the
Derry direction.
As he inspected the Audi, the engine caught fire and
he extinguished the flames, said Garda Mannion. He
said he found one man moaning and one man motionless
in the car. In the Vento, he found a woman moaning
in the front passenger seat and two females in the
back. One had no pulse and the other was having
difficulty breathing. The male driver, he said, was
"badly trapped and lifeless".
Garda Anne McGreal said she found it difficult to
make out how many were in the Vento because it was
"completely mangled". She said the front seat female
passenger was clinging to the car radio which "must
have come out on impact".
The only other occupant of the Audi, Armondas
Degimas, was to become the sole survivor of the
accident.
The inquest heard of efforts by the authorities to
identify the three deceased at the morgue in
Letterkenny the following day. These included
finger-printing and the taking of dental records by
Buncrana dentist Maeve Mulholland. Positive
identifications were eventually made that day by
friends and housemates of the deceased living in the
Inishowen area. In his deposition, Valdas Salinas
from Latvia, said Mr Abartis was working with him in
construction and was also living with him and a
number of other Latvians in Mr Doyle's five-bedroom
residence at The Crescent, Buncrana. He said he was
insured and had permission to drive Mr Doyle's car
but Mr Abartis did not. Mr Salinas said: "Danielius
always wanted to drive Paul Doyle's car but he was
never allowed to drive it." He said that night, Mr
Abartis, himself and a number of others drank some
alcohol with Mr Doyle at his home, before everyone,
except Mr Doyle, went to a local nightclub. The
group drank more at the nightclub and drank again
when they returned to The Crescent around 3.30am.
They tried to be quiet because Mr Doyle was asleep.
Mr Salinas said he did not know how much Mr Abartis
had to drink on the night nor did he see him leave
the house with the car keys.
Meanwhile, Inishowen coroner, Dr John Madden said
the autopsies showed that Mr Bielskis had "zero
alcohol" in his blood while Mr Abartis was over the
legal limit at 240mg of alcohol to 100ml of blood.
All three suffered multiple injuries and massive
blood loss. Dr Madden said the testimonies included
those of garda officers, ambulance personnel,
fire-fighters, the pathologist and morticians.
"All these people are part of the much-reviled
public service. There are not many people who could
do the kind of work they do. They see some pretty
gruesome and traumatic things. They should get more
appreciation than they have done in the recent
past," said Dr Madden. A verdict in accordance with
the medical evidence was returned in each of the
three deaths. |
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