Coroner critical overlack of phone evidence
A CORONER has criticised the failure of police to present her with evidence relating to a mobile phone that may have been used seconds before a fatal road crash.
Scott James Brady was killed when his Audi A4 crashed into a electricity pole on the Coast Road outside Larne on March 20 last year.
He had been driving at around 100mph at the time of the crash, which happened at around 8.30am that Friday morning.
The 29-father-of-three had lived with a cocaine addiction for three years, and toxicology reports read to his inquest in Belfast yesterday confirmed that he had used it shortly before his death.
He had also battled mental health difficulties which coroner Joanne Donnelly said were "inextricably linked" to his addiction.
At the hearing, Mr Brady's grieving family — including his wife Sarah — heard witness statements from a number of people who had seen him travelling at speed, erratically and on the wrong side of the Coast Road from Larne towards Ballygally.
His blue vehicle mounted the footpath and cut an electricity pole head in half, before crashing through metal railings and on to the rocks below.
He was pronounced dead at 10.37am, having suffered extensive fractures and a severe brain injury.
Sergeant Peter Duncan told the court that one of the mobile phones found at the scene showed evidence of a missed call that police didn't believe had been answered.
Ms Donnelly said that she had been told that a "call had been made at around 8.30am to a specific person whose name isn't relevant" which wasn't answered.
Mrs Brady later told the court that the mobile phone company had confirmed that the call made by her husband "didn't connect".
She said the intended recipient of the call had told her they never received it.
However, when Ms Donnelly asked Sergeant Duncan if an analysis had been done by police into this issue, she was told they "didn't believe it was relevant".
Ms Donnelly said she planned to "write to the area commander to explain my concerns that not all the evidence was provided to the court today".
She added: "When mobile phones are found at road traffic collisions that information should always be provided to the coroner by the investigating officer."
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Tuesday 14 February 2012
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