Mother of one died after car collides with lamp post

By Louise Roseingrave

A MOTHER of one died in a collision as she drove her car home after a work night out.

Aoife Kelly (31) from Newcastle, south west Co Dublin worked as a customer service advisor at Ulster Bank in Clondalkin.

The accident happened at 4.20am on November 21 2014 as Ms Kelly was returning from a night out socialising with work friends.

She died after the car she was driving collided with a lamp post at the junction of Nangor Road and the Outer Ring road in Clondalkin.

She was a ‘bright child who never caused anyproblems’, Dublin Coroner’s Court heard. She had recently passed her institute of banking exams, her father told the court.

“She was looking forward to a career with Ulster Bank. They held her in very high esteem,” Mr Kelly said.

The court heard that Ms Kelly had been upset and in tears at work on November 20, following a meeting with a superior at work.

Colleague James McKeever said she was ‘one of those types not afraid to speak her mind’ but had been very upset by the meeting.

There was a work night out planned that evening. “She said, I’m going to get drunk tonight this place is doing my head in,” Mr McKeever said in his statement. The pair worked late until 7pm in preparation for a mortgage event.

He said Ms Kelly drank beer that night and they drank ‘a stupid amount of shots.’

He had no recollection of leaving the pub but was later told by Gardai that Ms Kelly had dropped him home.

The court heard she gave a colleague the loan of E20 for a taxi home.

Forensic Collision Investigator Garda Edward Davin said marks left on the road after the collision suggested the car was starting to spin as it entered the junction.

The Toyota Yaris crossed the junction and hit a lamppost, before spinning 180 degrees and colliding with a traffic calming pole and a barrier.

Gda Davin estimated the Yaris was travelling between 75 and 79 kmph on impact and said it was possible the driver swerved to avoid something, possibly a small animal, though there was no evidence of this.

He said driving under the influence of alcohol can prompt inappropriate or excessive responses.

“It was a driver action, a swerve or quick steering action but I can’t say what prompted that action,” Gda Davin said.

A post-mortem examination revealed Ms Kelly died of traumatic head injuries due to a single vehicle collision.

She had a blood alcohol level of 194 milligrams per cent, roughly the equivalent to six or seven drinks, Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane said.

The jury returned a verdict of accidental death.