Donegal haulage company convicted after investigation into fatal A5 crash - Donegal News

William Gill Transport Ltd Buncrana convicted and fined at Omagh Magistrates Court.

A TRANSPORT firm in Buncrana was convicted and fined following an investigation into a fatal lorry crash that claimed the life of one of its young drivers.

William Gill Livestock Transport Ltd, of Lisfannan, Buncrana, appeared before Omagh Magistrates Court on Thursday on a number of commercial vehicle and drivers’ hours offences arising from an investigation into the death of 29-year-old Jonathan Reilly.

Mr Reilly was killed when the Scania articulated lorry he was driving crashed on the Beltany Road outside Omagh on August 16, 2022.

Members of the Reilly family, including his parents Tom and Josephine Reilly, attended the hearing. Judge Conor Heaney also acknowledged the presence of Mr Reilly’s siblings in court.

The company had previously entered guilty pleas to offences including failing to allow a driver to take a break, employing a driver in contravention of on-off duty regulations, and having defective tyres on the vehicle. Two tachograph-related charges were contested.

Public Prosecution Service barrister Sarah Sharman said it was a “reckless shutting of the eyes to structure” for drivers to be left to organise their own work without proper management oversight by the company.

She argued there had been a failure to properly supervise Mr Reilly and allocate work in a managed way, adding that the company had “absolved itself of responsible planning”.

The court heard the central issue was that the lorry was being driven while tachograph records showed the driver was resting and had taken a break. Ms Sharman said there was a significant difference between a company saying it did not permit tachograph tampering and being able to demonstrate systems were in place to prevent it.

Defence barrister Stephen Fitzpatrick described the prosecution case on the contested charges as an “evidential vacuum”, arguing there was no evidence as to how the tachograph alterations occurred or who was responsible.

Judge Heaney said a pivotal aspect of the case was whether or not the company failed to be proactive in finalising drivers’ work plans.

Considering the evidence, he said he was satisfied as to the company’s guilt and convicted it of making or permitting a false tachograph entry and recording false data on recording equipment.

The judge said he had taken account of the company’s history of motoring infringements in 2023-2024 in the Republic but was careful not to rely on previous convictions when determining guilt.

He also noted that although defects were found on the lorry’s tyres, they were not a factor in the fatal crash.

The company was fined £500 on each of four offences relating to two counts of defective tyres, one count of contravening driver on-off duty periods and a rest-break infringement of not having a 45 minute break after four and a half hours of driving.

It was further fined £2,000 on each of the two tachograph and driver card related offences of making or permitting a false entry and recording false data on recording equipment.

William Gill Livestock Transport Ltd was given 26 weeks to pay the fines.

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