Inquest begins of woman who died when wheel from Donegal lorry struck family car

A woman who died after a wheel came off a lorry owned by a Donegal haulage company has been remembered as a loving mother and partner.

Shauna McDevitt, 47, was killed after the Hyundai Tucson being driven by her partner was struck by a wheel that became separated from a tanker lorry on the A6 near Toomebridge on April 10, 2022.

Ms McDevitt and her son, Cillian, were being driven back home to Derry from a Little Mix concert in Belfast when the tragedy occurred, her inquest at Coleraine courthouse has heard.

Ms McDevitt’s partner, Mr Declan Campbell, recalled how he drove his partner and their son, Cillian, to the SSE Arena in Belfast for a Little Mix concert.

Mr Campbell recalled how he took the family dog for a walk. He said he returned to the arena around 10pm to collect them and traffic was heavy until he got past Antrim.

He told how he saw an “object glowing in mid air” around two car lengths close to the Toome roundabout. The object - now known to be a wheel from a lorry owned by Walter Reilly & Sons Limited - came over the central barrier on the road and careered into their Tucson.

The lorry driver was at Belfast Docks and had boarded a boat bound for Scotland when he was intercepted by PSNI officers. Later driver Mark Atkinson and the lorry owner, Ivor Reilly, were fined a combined £5,200 for vehicle defects and the company has since had its haulage licence withdrawn.

“It all seemed so surreal, like something from a computer game,” a statement from Mr Campbell which was read into the inquest, said. 

He later learned that Shauna was scrolling through comments on a Facebook post showing her and Cillian at the concert when the collision occurred.

Mr Campbell said he called out Shauna’s name, but she didn’t respond. The lights were flashing in the car and some lights were hanging down around the rearview while he said the windscreen was smashed in.

He recalled how he tried in vain to wave down traffic as he attempted CPR on his partner. “Nobody stopped,” he said.

The couple had met at a Derry City game in 2005 and were together for 17 years.  Mr Campbell described his partner as “loving, caring and supportive” and told how she loved organising trips: “She was the organiser for everyone in the family.”

The inquest heard how Mr Campbell struggled to drive past the scene, which he passes two to three times a week for work, and how he feels “very nervous” driving since. He feels unnerved driving near lorries and said he is “not a comfortable driver any more”.

He told of the emotional and financial trauma caused by the incident and how it also affected Cillian.

“He was a mummy’s boy and he got a hug from Shauna every night,” he said. “He has been forced to grow up a lot faster. He misses his mum every day and is holding onto different things to keep the memories alive. 

Mr Campbell said Shauna would have turned 50 this year but her life was taken at 47. “She was robbed of the opportunity to grow old,” he said.

A paramedic said that Mr Campbell was doing compressions on Ms McDevitt when he arrived. He there was “a severe head injury noted incompatible with life” and Ms McDevitt was pronounced dead at 11.28pm.

Dr Peter Ingram, who was the assistant state pathologist of Northern Ireland at the time of the incident, conducted a post mortem on the deceased.

Dr Ingram told Ms Niamh Horscroft BL, counsel to the coroner, that the cause of Ms McDevitt’s death was determined to be head injury.

He outlined a series of injuries, including extensive skull fractures and lacerated brain tissue. 

“Such a devastating head injury would have cause virtually instantaneous death,” Dr Ingram said.

At the time of death, there was no alcohol present in Ms McDevitt’s body, he said.

A statement was read from a Kyle Toner, who was employed as a driver with Walter Reilly & Sons Limited at the time. He recalled hitching up a tanker and taking it to Fanad to be loaded before returning it to the company’s headquarters in Cappry, Ballybofey.

Three drivers, including Mr Toner and Mr Mark Atkinson, were to get a boat to Scotland with their lorries on the night of April 10, 2022. 

Mr Toner’s statement said the journey was “unremarkable” and the drivers met up again at the port in Belfast. 

He said a Stena Line employee came in to ask for the driver of the tanker lorry and Mr Atkinson was taken for questioning by police.

PSNI officers arrived at Belfast Docks and identified a white Scania lorry bearing Walter Reilly & Sons livery that was missing the middle nearside wheel, which “appeared to have sheared off the axel”.

Mr Atkinson said he was not involved in a collision and there were no defects on the vehicle that he was aware of. He was arrested at 1.55am on April 11, 2022 and made no reply when cautioned. 

Earlier this year, Walter Reilly & Sons Limited had its international road haulage operator licence revoked by the Minister for Transport.  An appeal against that decision was rejected by Judge Ciaran Liddy at Letterkenny District Court, a hearing which was attended by members of Ms McDevitt’s family.

The licence was withdrawn on grounds including serious concerns for road safety arising from convictions and penalties for infringements of road transport regulations in Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Great Britain.

Judge Liddy, in upholding the Minister’s decision, said that road safety was of paramount importance and that the decision of the Minister for Transport was therefore “reasoned, justified and proportionate”. 

In May 2024, at Antrim Magistrates Court, lorry owner Ivor Reilly, of Cappry, pleaded guilty to charges of: using a vehicle in a dangerous condition; using a vehicle which exceeded the maximum permitted weight; having a defective light; and failing to maintain a vehicle.

Driver Mark Atkinson, of Dromore Lodge, Rockcorry, Co Monaghan, pleaded guilty to using a vehicle in a dangerous condition, using a vehicle which exceeded the maximum permitted weight and having a defective light.

A defence barrister said there was “no direct blame” on the wheel coming off to the defendants and District Judge Nigel Broderick said the case was “tragic”.

Judge Broderick said he had to bear in mind that the charges “did not provide any causal link to her very sad demise” and he fined Reilly £3,500 with Atkinson fined £1,700.

The inquest continues before Coroner Fee at Coleraine Courthouse.