A motorcyclist out for a Sunday “spin” with two friends has told an inquest that his group met a group of other motorcyclists riding erratically towards them and with one of them with his front wheel “up in the air”. Another witness told the inquest that as he lay seriously injured at the scene a man came forward and videoed him without asking permission. The inquest conducted by Coroner for Co Meath Nathaniel Lacy at Trim Courthouse enquired into the deaths of Mark Eager (41), Stoney Road, Oldcastle and Stuart O’Connell (37) of Loughcrew View, Oldcastle who died in a three-motorcycle road incident at Bellaney, Oldcastle on 28 th July 2024.
Garda Brendan O’Shea told the inquest that an address he had been given for Mr O’Connell was Drumsawry View, Oldcastle. Kevin McGeoy (59) of Crieve, Killoe, Longford told the inquest that himself and motorcyclist friends Paul Mulligan of Toneymore, Abbeylara, Co Longford and Thomas Donlon travelled through the village of Finea and on to Castlepollard for fuel before going through Fore village and back towards the Oldcastle Road.
They visited Loughcrew Neolithic tomb and then travelled back home at Millbrook and turning for Castlepollard. He said he was new to motorcycling and set a pace that he was comfortable with. The three of them turned left onto the R195 and shortly afterwards they met a group of about 15 motorcyclists “moving very fast” and with one bike in the group “doing a wheelie”. He told the inquest that when they passed he had remarked to himself “Thank God they’re gone”.
Thomas Donlon of Lamagh, Newownforbes, Longford said in evidence that the plan for himself and friends was to have a “leisurely spin down to Loughcrew. Because Kevin McGeoy was a “learner” they let him set the pace. On the road to Castlepollard they were “just dawdling along not near the speed limit”.
“The first thing I remember was a group of about 12-15 bikers coming towards us, two abreast some of them. One was doing a wheelie while two abreast on the road. Another lad towards the end stuck his right foot out. Naturally we kept in and slowed down. Genuinely I felt scared as a result of it. The next thing is the accident happened”. He said he saw the back wheel of a bike coming towards him. He said there was a bang and remembered waking up in a ditch with his right hand “badly broken” and his right foot “just hanging by skin”.
“When I woke a tall man in a black biker suit, tight haircut, dark hair, about 40-50 years old, very tanned, was taking a video of me. I asked him ‘are you taking a video of him?’ and he says ‘I am’ . I said ‘you bastard , if I could get out of this ditch you wouldn’t take any more video. He held the phone down videoing my foot right down along it. He said ’you’re not going anywhere, mate’ and he left”. At the hospital he had had steel rods put into his arm along with bolts, nuts and screws and surgeons had had to rebuild his elbow. He had also lost his right leg below the knee and also had an 8mm tear on his aorta, along with a clot on his lung and a polyp on his thyroid.
Garda Brendan O’Shea told the inquest that when he spoke to Mr Mulligan at the scene he informed him that a yellow bike with two men on it “came over on the wrong side of the road and hit Thomas first and then hit him. The Garda said that both deceased had been on a yellow bike which he noted had no registration plates.
Garda Maurice Mahon, a forensic scene investigator told the inquest that Mr Mulligan had a dash cam attached to his motorcycle. In reply to the coroner he said that Stuart O’Connell’s motorcycle traversed over and presumably crossed over to the other side of the carriageway and first made collision with Mr Donlon’s motorcycle and then Mr Mulligan’s. The Garda said this was correct.
Asked how that “loss of control” had happened, the Garda said he did not know, the rider had lost the ability to control the vehicle. The Garda said he spoke to a Maurice Hjert (50) of Purchamone, Oldcastle said that when he came on the scene of the accident a tall male on a red bike said to him “f**k this I’m out of here”.
He also spoke to a Joe Tiernan (64) Isle of Man who told him he arrived at the scene 2-4 minutes after the accident. He said he saw two men on a yellow bike in Fore and they had left Fore before him. The Garda said Mr Tiernan told him “they were doing stunts around the pub in Fore.”
Consultant pathologist Professor Muna Sabah who carried out a post mortem on the bodies of both men said they had both suffered multiple injuries. Stuart O’Connell’s body said that toxicology tests showed a blood/alcohol level of 123/100. He also had a small amount of cocaine and cocaine metabolised in his blood. She said that a toxicology report on Mr Eager had shown a blood/alcohol level of 170/100.
A female relative of Mark Eager spoke from the body of the inquest room to criticise the fact that the road at the accident scene had not been cleaned following the accident and that “Mark’s blood was visible on the road along with various parts of the motorbike. “I just think it was very disrespectful that the family involved not only had to go through what they had to go through but had to see blood and everything still on the road. I think it was disgusting”. The coroner said he noted the woman’s comments. “I’m sure it has been noted by An Garda Siochana”, he said.
Three ambulances attended the scene and fire and ambulance crews at the scene included Paul Colleran, Paul Mulholland, Margaret Alwell, Martina Bennet, Stephen Payne, Brendan Clerkin, Janet Holmes, and Daniel O’Brien.
In the case of Mr O’Connell and Mr Eager the coroner returned a verdict that they had died of multiple injuries consistent with a road accident . He and the deputy coroner Donna Kerrigan and Professor Sabah along with Garda Inspector Alan Roughneen extended their sympathy to the families of the deceased.
