Man was killed collecting dead horse from roadway, inquest told
A 45-year-old father of ten was knocked down as he attended the removal of a dead horse from an unlit rural road on a dark December night, an inquest was told today.
Patrick O'Connor, Coroner for Mayo, and a jury, were told in Castlebar that Joseph Cleary, Gurraun, Ballyhaunis, died instantly from haemorrhagic shock and traumatic chest injuries following the impact on the N83 Ballyhaunis to Cloonfad road on December 16, 2015.
The deceased was struck by a car driven by seventeen-year-old Jason Fallon from Rockfort, Irishtown, Claremorris.
Mr. Fallon told the inquest in Castlebar he was driving his mother's Volkswagen Passat car, on which he was insured, at the time of the impact and was accompanied by two friends on a journey to Ballyhaunis.
It was misty and dark at the time and the road was damp and greasy, Mr. Fallon said in a statement which was read to the inquest.
The witness added that as they were passing a stationary truck, which has its indicators, there was a bang and their windscreen was broken.
He said they didn't know what they had hit but found a man who was unresponsive on the ground after they emerged from the car.
John Gallagher, Bushfield, Kiltimagh, a driver for Mulvaney's Dead Animal Collection Services, Ballyconnell, Co. Cavan, said he was contacted around 7.30 p.m. by Joseph Cleary to collect a horse that got killed on the road.
Mr. Gallagher said that as they were collecting the animal Joseph Cleary opted to stay in the cab as he didn't want to see the horse being loaded.
The witness explained he was winching the horse into the trailer when he was approached by two lads who showed him a man lying on the road and asked him if he was with him.
Mr. Gallagher said that was the first he knew there had been an accident.
Questioned by Mr. Eoin Garavan, counsel for the Cleary family, Mr. Gallagher said he could give no indication as to why Joseph Cleary was on the roadway.
After the jury returned a verdict of accidental death, the coroner expressed his deepest sympathy with the Cleary family.
He said that winter was approaching and the manner of the tragedy highlighted the need for all road users to wear high-vis clothing on dark evenings and nights.