Co Antrim driver who was on her way to church cleared over the death of 80-year-old motorcyclist

District Judge Nigel Broderick told Ballymena Magistrates Court while it was clear that Wesley James West died when his Honda motorcycle was in collision with the Audi being driven by Louise Omelvena, he had to assess whether the Crown had proved beyond reasonable doubt that she was criminally responsible.

Having heard evidence from witnesses at the scene, two expert engineers and the defendant herself, over the course of the four-and-a-half hour contest on Monday, the judge highlighted that the tragic outcome came down to a matter of seconds.

“Is this criminal court being asked to attach criminal liability to a defendant if they perhaps took a second or two longer than they should have?” Judge Broderick told the court, adding that the prosecution case boiled down to whether the 42-year-old took too long to look left and right or whether she edged out too far from the “extremely difficult” junction.

Highlighting that he has “every sympathy for the West family and their tragic loss,” the judge said that applying the law as he was duty-bound to do, “I think it would be asking the court to impose a constant of perfection on the defendant.”

“She was going to church with her children; in no way was she driving recklessly or dangerously or carelessly,” Judge Broderick said, “if we could all turn the clock back, then, of course, none of this would have happened, but in all the circumstances, given the minute nature of the alleged carelessness attributed to the defendant, a matter of seconds, I can't be satisfied that meets the criminal standard.”

Omelvena, from the Ballynulto Road in Ballymena, had always denied causing the death of Mr West by careless driving.

The court heard how the 80-year-old had met up with two friends on a sunny Sunday morning on 7 May 2023. The three friends were travelling along the Church Road in the Moorfields area when Omelvena pulled out of a junction and was in collision with the pensioner.

His friend gave emotional evidence that he saw Mr West colliding with the front driver’s wing of the Audi and landing on the road way. Despite the impact occurring at a relatively low speed, the 80-year-old sadly died from his injuries.

The court heard evidence from two experts about the nature of the junction Omelvena was faced with - a sweeping left-hand bend to the left with a driver being able to see 85 metres and to the right, the direction from which Mr West had come, a crest and a dip 110 metres away.

The defendant gave evidence that knowing how difficult the junction is, she had looked right, saw that it was clear and then looked left.

She told the court that having seen it was clear to the left, she began to edge out but it was when she turned back to the right, that she saw Mr West approaching so she stopped, believing that he had enough room to get past.

Mr West had been traveling at an estimated 50 to 60 mph, and evidence from expert engineers suggested he would have covered the distance between the crest and the point of impact, in three and a half to five seconds.

Omelvena’s checks as she edged out would likely have taken her around three seconds.

Giving evidence on her own behalf, the 42-year-old told defence counsel Stephen Law she was doing her best to negotiate the junction safely.

Under cross-examination, she denied prosecution suggestions that she had driven carelessly by beginning to edge out without checking to the right.

“I did look and it was clear and I started to move out,” Omelvena told the prosecutor, “I approached the junction carefully and moved out carefully… I don’t know what else I could have done.”

Describing Omelvena as a reliable and credible witness, Judge Broderick said it was clear that Mr West had done absolutely nothing wrong “and it’s with great regret that, unfortunately, he sustained fatal injuries.”

“Everything was done to try and save his life but unfortunately, that was not possible,” said the judge

“I know this may be a disappointing result for the West family, but I hope they can take some solace from an examination of all the evidence in the case,” the judge told the court, “this has been a tragic accident, but not one to which I could attribute criminal liability to the defendant.”