‘We showed love and compassion to him,’ inquest of Donegal crash victim hears

“I prayed with him and he wasn’t in pain,” a witness who travelled from England for an inquest in Donegal Town told the deceased man’s family.

Jonathan Treanor was 28 years of age when he died in a fatal crash at Rossnowlagh on April 18, 2022. Originally from Barratitoppy, Scotstown, County Monaghan, he had been living with his partner Marie Furey in Mountcharles. 

An inquest into his death took place on Friday, July 12 at Donegal Town Courthouse. 

Coroner Dr Denis McCauley returned a narrative verdict, explaining: “That means the finding is simply a factual assessment of what happened.

“In this case, the deceased died as a result of injuries sustained in a road traffic collision which occurred at 5.29pm on April 18, 2022 at  Killinangle More, Rossnowlagh.”

The horrific collision saw Mr Treanor’s Suzuki motorbike strike a Skoda Superb, resulting in the bike breaking apart and the biker being thrown through the air. He hit the windscreen of a Toyota Rav 4, was thrown across its roof and came to rest in a ditch. Despite best efforts to revive him, Mr Treanor was pronounced dead at the scene. 

There was some conflict of evidence throughout the inquest as to whether there were two or three motorbikes travelling together at the time. Dr McCauley said it was his view that the most likely scenario was that there were two motorbikes, with the third coming along in the minutes following the collision. 

The driver of the Skoda Superb, John Marsh gave evidence that he and his wife Irene were travelling home to Rossnowlagh after visiting their daughter in Tyrone. They were somewhat held up by a slow moving vehicle in front of them, and traffic was building up behind them. 

Mr Marsh told the inquest that on arriving at their home, he came to a stop and indicated to turn into his driveway. The road ahead was clear, he said.

As he reached the pillars at the driveway entrance he heard a loud bang and felt an impact which caused the car to spin around. 

Mr Marsh exited the car and saw that another car, the Rav 4, had a broken windscreen and there was part of a motorbike sticking out from a ditch.

Under cross examination from barrister for the Treanor family, Mr Paul McMorrow acting for solicitor Brian Morgan, Mr Marsh was adamant that he had not seen the motorbikes coming towards him. 

When asked how it was that he had not seen them, Mr Marsh replied: “I thought about it quite a few times and the only thing I can think of is that they came through the vanishing point of the road after I turned, and obviously being between the pillars I couldn’t see that.”

Irene Marsh gave similar evidence, saying she had been travelling in the back seat with the couple’s elderly dog, and was looking straight ahead due to suffering from motion sickness. She too said there was nothing coming, and she only became aware of the motorbike in the moment before impact. 

“There was a flash of green and an almighty bang and then the car was pulled back,” she said. 

“I was trapped in the back of the car with something coming towards me, It was terrifying.”

The inquest then heard from Ruth Nicholl who travelled from Lancashire, England for the inquest. She outlined how she had been visiting the area with family and friends – including children – and the group was travelling in two cars. 

Ms Nicholl was driving the Toyota Rav 4 which was travelling behind the Skoda Superb. 

She saw the Skoda prepare to turn, and could also see motorbikes coming towards them. Ms Nicholl said she remembered thinking ‘I wouldn’t have turned’ but stressed that she was further back and higher up, and so had a much better view of an undulating stretch of road. 

Ms Nicholl outlined the traumatic events that followed.

“One of the bikes was out at the centre line and it began to overtake and it hit the back of Skoda,” she said. 

“The bike broke up, he went through the air, hit my windscreen passenger side and went over my roof.”

Ms Nicholl said her child was in the car covered in glass from the windscreen. She and other occupants of the two cars in her group did their best to assist, calling 999 and helping those who were carrying out CPR.

“If it is any consolation to the family, I prayed beside him and he wasn’t in pain,” she said. “May he rest in peace.

“I want Jonny’s family to know that he was cared for by the people around and we showed love and compassion to him.”

A rear seat passenger in Ms Nicholl’s car, Emer Kelly from Mountcharles also gave evidence of seeing the bikes approach and knowing that there was going to be a collision. 

Following the collision, she took one of the child passengers from the car across the road so that she would not be frightened by seeing the other child bleeding.

Her husband Philip Kelly was in the next car, a Honda. 

“The noise would have drawn my peripheral vision to the motorbikes,” said Mr Kelly. 

“The motorcycles were coming fast. The Skoda was not turning unnecessarily slowly for ordinary traffic, but it wasn’t turning fast enough to avoid a collision.”

He added that he had said a  prayer over Mr Treanor.

Motorcyclist Aaron Toner was with Mr Treanor when the tragedy occurred. He said he and two friends had gone out for a motorcycle run, and had lunch in Donegal Town. One had gone home afterwards, and Jonathan Treanor had joined the remaining two for a spin to Rossnowlagh. Mr Toner said that shortly before the collision, he became aware that he and Mr Treanor were by themselves as they travelled the R211 towards Rossnowlagh. 

“We weren’t speeding,” he said. “Jonny went into the bend ahead of me. Next I saw was Jonny flying through the  air.

“I stopped and was flagging down traffic. I stayed out of the way. People were helping Jonny.”

The third member of the group of bikers joined him on the road at that point, he added.

Paramedic Manus Daly gave evidence of attending the scene with a colleague and taking over attempts to revive the patient. 

“We continued resuscitation for 25 minutes,” he said. “Unfortunately there was no change to the patient’s condition.”

Mr Daly verified the death at 5.29pm. 

Sergeant Ronan Gallagher gave evidence of gardaí attending the collision and breathalysing the drivers involved, none of whom were found to have been over the limit. 

He also checked Mr Marsh’s phone and found no evidence of use at the time of the collision. 

The sergeant arranged for Mr Treanor’s remains to be removed from the scene for post mortem examination at Sligo University Hospital mortuary.

The inquest heard  how Mr Treanor’s partner Marie Furey had last seen him at 3pm on the date in question when he left to ‘go for a quick spin’ with some friends. 

Some time later, he called from a friend’s phone.

In her deposition which was read into evidence, Ms Furey said: “He told me, ‘Babe I will be home in half an hour or an hour tops.’”

She became worried when she didn’t hear from him, and at 7.30, received a call to go to Donegal Town Garda Station. Her mother accompanied her, and she received the devastating news that there had been a fatal crash, and gardaí believed the victim to be her partner. 

The following morning, she identified his remains.  

The inquest heard that an autopsy found that Mr Treanor had sustained a number of injuries, and that his death was caused primarily by head injuries.

Next to give evidence to Garda Damian Mulkearns, who explained that his role was to examine vehicles involved in a fatal collision. 

He said that the motorbike had experienced massive frontal damage and had broken up on impact, with the front wheel, suspension and handlebars becoming detached. However, Garda Mulkearns stressed that there had been no modifications to the bike, and that all three vehicles were in serviceable condition prior to the collision. 

His garda colleague Sergeant Gerry McCauley gave evidence of examining the scene in the aftermath of the collision. 

The inquest heard that the tragic incident took place in daylight, in warm and dry conditions and with excellent visibility. 

Sgt McCauley added: “The road was in good condition for a regional road, with clear white lines. The speed limit is 80 km/h but the road lends itself to a lower speed.”

The sergeant said his findings indicated that the motorbike was travelling at excessive speed, based on how far the much heavier Skoda Superb was spun off course by the collision, the manner in which the bike had broken up, and the way in which the motorcyclist had been projected through the air. 

Dr McCauley said: “We can’t actually say scientifically what speed the motorbike was doing at that time. Can you confidently say ‘excessive?’”

Sgt McCauley replied: “If the bike had hit the car at the 80km speed limit we would not have seen this level of damage. It wouldn’t add up. 

“I am confident to say it was above the speed limit but I can’t say how much.”

Having heard all the evidence, the coroner addressed the bereaved family. 

“An inquest is about asking questions and getting answers,” he said. “It is not about applying blame.”

Dr McCauley said the first matter to consider was recording the cause of death, which the autopsy found to be a significant head injury as a result of a road traffic collision.

The next matter was the finding, which he said in this case was a narrative verdict, which means a factual assessment of what happened. 

Dr McCauley offered his condolences to Mr Treanor’s family. He thanked everyone who attended, including Ms Nicholl who travelled from England, and Mr and Mrs Kelly who cancelled a holiday so that they could be present. 

Barrister Mr McMorrow offered condolences on behalf of himself and solicitor Brian Morgan.

“No one goes away from an inquest happy, but thank you for helping the family to move on a little bit,” he said to those who had given evidence.

Sergeant Stewart Doyle expressed sympathy on behalf of An Garda Síochana. 

Dr McCauley added: “We have heard a lot of evidence here about a tragic event. It has consequences for everyone involved – innocent bystanders, emergency services, gardaí, having to witness things that are very difficult.”

The coroner had a particular word of thanks for the specialist garda witnesses. 

“I am always grateful for the work they do in helping us to understand what happened,” he said.