AN INISHOWEN hackney driver who was struck by a van in a Christmas tragedy, died accidentally, an inquest jury has found at Carndonagh court. Stephen Gray (51) died instantly in the accident at Oort, Gleneely, on December 27, 2004 while leaving passengers home from a St. Stephen's night disco in Tul Na Ri, Carndonagh.

After a three day inquest which heard evidence from 35 witnesses, Coroner John Madden gave the jury of four men and six women three options as they retired to consider their verdict: accidental death, unlawful killing or an open verdict. It took less than ten minutes for the jury to come to a unanimous decision at the close of the inquest on Friday night.

The inquest heard that the hackney driver, of Dunross, Culdaff - who was a native of London - had stopped his Toyota Hi-Ace cab to let out two passengers and was collecting their fares at the side of his vehicle when he was struck by a small van travelling in the opposite direction.

His body was found lying in a ditch 44 feet from the rear of his bus in a field on the opposite side of the road after being hit by a Volkswagen Caddy van driven by Michael McColgan (then 21) of 60 Cherry Avenue, Carndonagh.

Mr. McColgan told the court he had not seen "anybody on the road at any stage" that night.

"As I passed the front of the van, the next thing the front windscreen of the van came in on top of me. I did not know what happened. I slammed on the brakes and brought my van to a stop," he said.

When he got out and walked back to the scene, Mr. McColgan saw two men lying on the ground whom he later discovered were Michael Martin McCallion (who told the court he suffered a fracture to the base of his skull) and Joseph McDaid (who said he was "knocked out"). Both men told the court they had no memory of the impact.

Mr. McColgan's girlfriend, Lorraine Kelly, said that Mr. McColgan had drunk two bottles of beer early in the night but had taken no more alcohol after that.

Garda Seamus Lyons, who was the first Garda at the scene, told the court he formed the opinion that Mr. McColgan was not under the influence of an intoxicant.

He said that when he saw Mr. McColgan, his hands were around his head and he was crying.

"He was saying I'm sorry, I'm sorry. He was in a very distressed state."

Under cross examination Garda Lyons said Mr McColgan was "upset so badly I was worried about him".

During inquest into the death of Mr. Gray, which has also been the subject of three separate garda investigations, evidence was heard from 35 witnesses, including all 22 passengers who were on board the cab at the time of the accident.
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