AN IRISH father of ten was killed by a car while removing a dead horse from an unlit rural road in Co. Mayo, an inquest has heard.
Joseph Cleary, from the town of Ballyhaunis near Knock, was knocked down on the N83 Ballyhaunis to Cloonfad road on December 16, 2015.
Coroner Patrick O’Connor was told that Mr Cleary died instantly from haemorrhagic shock and traumatic chest injuries following the impact.
He was struck by a car driven by seventeen-year-old Jason Fallon from nearby Claremorris.
In a statement which was read to the inquest, Mr Fallon said it was misty and dark at the time and the road where the tragic incident occurred was damp and greasy.
He said that as he was driving past a stationary truck there was a bang and his windscreen was broken.
Mr Fallon said he didn’t know what he had hit but found a man who was unresponsive on the ground after he left his car.
He was driving his mother’s Volkswagen Passat car, on which he was insured, and was accompanied by two friends in the vehicle at the time.
The inquest in Castlebar also heard from John Gallagher of the Dead Animal Collection Services, who was contact by Mr Clearly at around 7.30pm to collect the horse that had been killed on the road.
Mr Gallagher said he was approached by two young men who alerted him to Mr Cleary’s body but did not see the accident.
After the jury returned a verdict of accidental death, the coroner extended his sympathies to the Cleary family and said the incident highlighted the importance of high-visibility clothing in dark road conditions.
