A 62-year-old motorist who drove away from the scene of an accident, which left a motorcyclist lying seriously injured on a city roadway, told Galway District Court this week she was amazed and pleasantly surprised at the number of young people who stopped to help the victim.

Marian O'Connor, of Corcullen, Moycullen, had denied charges of careless driving and hit and run in relation to the accident which occurred at the Nun's Island junction - between Galway Cathedral and the Salmon Weir Bridge - on 21 May last year.

After hearing lengthy evidence in the contested case, Judge Mary Fahy convicted Ms O'Connor of careless driving and fined her €500. She fined her a further €500 for failing to stop at the scene of the accident and disqualified her from driving for 12 months. She also ordered the accused to pay €160 witnesses expenses to prosecution witness, Ms Julia Curran.

Motorcyclist, Mr Conal Stafford, gave evidence he was driving towards the Cathedral at around 5.40pm on 21 May last year when he noticed a car about to make a right turn which he felt was going to collide with him. He said the front wheel of his bike locked up when he braked and he fell off, while the bike slid towards the car. He sustained three broken ribs and a broken collar bone and shoulder blade. As he lay on the road, he said he looked at the driver of the car and she stared back at him for about ten seconds before driving off. He said he put up his hand to warn her not to drive over his bike but she drove up over it, leaving tyre marks on the petrol tank. When she realised she had collided with the bike, she reversed back off it and then drove around it before driving off, he said. Mr. Stafford said a woman and two men came to his assistance.

Julia Curran gave evidence that she knew Ms O'Connor and saw her drive off after the collision. She said she had seen Ms O'Connor's car get caught in the motorbike and then reverse back away from the bike before driving off.

Both witnesses refuted Ms O'Connor's claim that her nephew had been in the front passenger's seat of her car at the time and that he had got out to check on Mr Stafford's condition after the accident. Ms O'Connor and her nephew, Ronan Kelly, also claimed her car had not collided with the motorbike as the car tried to leave the scene but both Mr Stafford and Ms Curran again refuted this.

Ms O'Connor gave evidence she drove off as she felt she had not caused the accident and had not been involved in it. She said she had sent her nephew out to check that the motorcyclist was okay and that she decided to drive off so that an ambulance could get to him as her car had been blocking the roadway.

She claimed she had remained at the scene for at least ten minutes, instructing her nephew to go and see if the motorcyclist was okay. "I was amazed and pleasantly surprised at all the young people who came to help him," Ms O'Connor told the court.

Convicting the accused, Judge Fahy said she had listened very carefully to both sides and preferred the evidence given by the prosecution witnesses. "Her (Ms O'Connor's) evidence and that of her nephew is not credible," the judge remarked. Leave to appeal the convictions was granted.

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