Accidental death verdict recorded by inquest jury

A verdict of accidental death caused by multiple injuries was returned by a jury on Monday at the inquests into the deaths of the five County Meath schoolgirls who died in the Navan bus crash in May 2005. The jury were told that the girls - Clare McCluskey (17), Deirdre Scanlon (17), Aimee McCabe (15), Lisa Callan (14) and Sinead Ledwidge (14) - all suffered the injuries when the bus in which they were travelling home from school overturned in the accident at roadworks near Casey"s Cross on 23rd May 2005. The inquest, conducted at Trim Courthouse by Meath County Coroner John Lacy, heard riders added to the verdicts by the families of the deceased and by the coroner. The families said that traffic lights should be placed at 'a proper height on both sides of the road, and not on a turn, so that people can see them', and that the three-people-for-two-seats policy on school buses should be abolished. The policy of placing three people in two seats has been scrapped since the 2005 accident. The coroner also suggested a rider that there should be ABS (anti-locking braking system) installed in all buses, and particularly school buses and equivalent vehicles, and that it should be properly connected and functioning at all times, and that the warning light on the dashboard be also functioning at all times; that all drivers of buses should be fully instructed as regards their usage and operation; that the owners of all buses should monitor the ABS system on an ongoing basis and ensure that it is in working order at all times; that seatbelts should be fitted to all seats in school buses and equivalent buses and that the owners should have a system in operation in relation to school buses to ensure that the schoolgoers avail of the seatbelts; that schools should initiate a safety awareness programme in relation to travelling on school buses and other relevant areas; and that all school buses should be continuously assessed and re-assessed in the interest of improving their safety. The inquest was told that the cables connecting the wheels to the ABS were not working on the day of the crash and had not been in operation for at least 12 weeks before that. A warning light which should have signalled that the ABS was inoperative did not operate because the bulb needed replacement. The bus driver, John Hubble, said he was unaware that the bus was fitted with an ABS system. The coroner said that this was an accident 'which should not have happened'. The victims had been entitled to safe passage from where they were going to their destination, he said. Expressing his deepest sympathy to all the families arising from what he termed 'this terrible tragedy that should not have happened', Mr Lacy said that not only had they had to endure the deaths of their daughters but also had to go through legal processes that had lasted for three years. The families sat as a group to one side of Court No 1 in Trim Courthouse. The jury took 35 minutes to return their verdict and afterwards the coroner termed the families 'a most courageous and brave group of people who had endured this terrible burden'. Sympathy was also expressed by Superintendent Michael Devine, on behalf of the Gardai, and by Martin Nolan, chief operating officer, Bus Eireann, on behalf of the company. At a court hearing in June, charges under health and safety legislation were brought against Bus Eireann (owners of the bus), Meath County Council (which was carrying out roadworks at the scene of the crash), Keltank Ltd, Balbriggan (which maintained the bus on behalf of Bus Eireann), and McArdle"s DoE Test Centre, Dundalk. The charge against McArdles was withdrawn, but Bus Eireann was fined a record €2 million; and both Keltank and Meath County Council were each fined €100,000. After the jury had been sworn in, Mr Lacy told them that their function was to adjudicate on the tragic deaths of the schoolgirls. He reminded them that the inquest was 'about the families of the five girls' and was the end of a long legal process they had had to go through. He also said that the inquest was a limited inquiry and that they were prohibited by law from apportioning blame. Mr Lacy said that he would be inviting the jury and the families to add a rider to the verdict if they so wished. 'Everybody will be anxious that this shouldn"t happen again,' he said, adding that he would be writing to the various authorities to ensure that tragedies such as the one at Mooretown would not recur.