By Declan Brennan
The husband of a woman killed after she was hit by a delivery van has asked, “How many more people have to die until driver behaviour changes?”
Ann Watters never regained consciousness after suffering head injuries when delivery driver David McCann hit her with his van.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that McCann wasn’t looking where he was going when he took a right turn onto the road the victim was crossing.
CCTV footage played in court showed she was half away across the two way street as McCann began making the turn.
The van cut the corner of the junction and was across the centre of the street when it fatally hit Ms Watters, the court heard.
McCann (49) of Mary Akinhead House, James Street, Dublin 8, pleaded guilty to careless driving causing the death of Ann Watters (née McGlynn) in Ringsend, Dublin 4 on April 20, 2024.
Garda Grainne Smith told Brian Storan BL, prosecuting, that at the time of the collision, the van was recorded as travelling at around 13 mph (miles per hour) and that the van was in good working order.
She said that McCann had been called into work that day when a colleague, who normally covered that part of the city, was unable to work.
The defendant was unfamiliar with Ringsend and was using Google maps and looking around at street signs to find his destination.
CCTV played in court showed that as he takes a right turn onto the adjoining road, he is not looking at the road ahead.
McCann was turning his head back over his right shoulder to look at a sign at the time of impact.
The victim was on her way to work when the van struck her.
The dash-cam footage records the sound of a loud thud and McCann then saying “oh, oh my god” before getting out of the van.
Afterwards McCann was seen pacing back and forth and was in a panic and distressed state with his head in his hands saying, “It’s all my fault”, the court heard.
Paramedics arrived within minutes but the victim had no pulse.
She was brought to St Vincent’s Hospital and found to have severe bleeding in the space around the brain.
She never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead three days later.
McCann co-operated with the garda investigation and gave investigators an extensive account of what happened.
He accepted full responsibility, Gda Smith told the court.
Gda Smith outlined details of McCann’s previous convictions.
These include a number of road traffic offences including breaking a 60 km/h speed limit in 2016, driving without insurance in 2015, 2003 and 2002.
He also has convictions under the theft act from 2000 and 2016 as well as a conviction for robbery.
David Staunton BL, defending, told the court that his client came from a law abiding pro-social family but that he fell into drug addiction in his 20s.
Mr Staunton said that after this robbery offence, McCann rehabilitated himself and turned his life around.
He began working as a driver in around 2010 and in 2021 he started with Eastern Electrical, who he was working for in 2024.
Counsel said his client’s employer was standing by him and regarded him as a valued employee.
He said his client was deeply remorseful.
“If he could turn back the hands of time for those seconds just to make sure he looked – he would do so without qualification,” counsel said.
Mr Staunton said this was a momentary lapse of awareness, but that the defendant looked away from the road at the important point when he was executing the turn.
Reading from his victim impact statement, Gary Watters, the victim’s husband, said that the day of the collision was the beginning of a nightmare that still endures today.
“We have been together for over thirty years. She was my best friend and confidante. We rarely over all those years spent a night apart.
“All that disappeared on the 23rd of March, when Ann lost her fight to survive her horrific injuries.
“Ann was my life. She was beautiful and happy and clever and hard working,” he said.
Mr Watters said that part of him died the day his wife died.
“Some mornings finding the reason to get out of bed is difficult. I’m not really living life anymore. I’m just trying to get through another day for the sake of Ann and my family,” he said.
Mr Watters told the court that as a result of stress associated with the tragedy he developed hypertension and suffered a stroke last September.
He said: “To have a loved one die of natural causes is a difficult experience for all those who have had to endure it. To have a loved one killed on the road is another thing altogether.
“Every day I have to pass the site in our little village where Ann was struck down.
“There were 174 deaths on Irish roads in 2024. Of this figure there were 33 pedestrian deaths. How many more people have to die until driver behaviour changes?”
Judge Orla Crowe adjourned finalisation of the sentence to next Monday. She remanded McCann on continuing bail to that date.