A 72-YEAR-OLD Castleblayney man has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of a motorcyclist in a collision that occurred on the main road between Carrickmacross and Castleblayney on 9th July 2014.
Jack McNally of Henry Street, Castleblayney had initially denied causing the death of Mark Anthony Downey, a 40-year-old father of five with an address at Brookhaven Rise, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15, but a jury of seven women and five men was discharged when he changed his plea on the second day of the trial last Thursday.
Monaghan Circuit Criminal Court had earlier been told that the accident at Broomfield, Monaghan occurred as Mr Downey’s northbound motorcycle struck a Nissan Terrano jeep driven by Mr McNally that had emerged onto the main N2 from a minor road known as the Aghnafarcan Road.
Garda William Walsh, a PSV inspector, had stated that while the 2002-registered Yamaha FJR bike driven by the victim was in “excellent condition” and perfectly roadworthy, the defendant’s jeep had…