No helmet contributed to fatal quad accident, Coroner finds

A CORONER at the inquest into the death of a young Galbally man in a quad bike accident nearly three years ago has said that the failure to wear a helmet contributed to the injuries which he sustained.

John Paul Nugent, from Altnaglushan, died on August 17, 2021 in an incident which shocked the local community.

The findings at his inquest were delivered by the Coroner at a sitting in Laganside, Belfast, on Friday which was attended by members of his family.

Coroner Anne-Louise Toal said that, at the moment, helmets are not, and have not been, a legal requirement for those driving quad bikes.

But she added that the failure to wear one in this instance had contributed to the injuries sustained when Mr Nugent collided with a wall close to his home.

The inquest was told that he was an experienced quad bike rider and had been on this machine on at least eight occasions prior to his death.

She found that the quad bike which was being driven by him at the time had been incorrectly treated for an issue with its throttle sticking.

She said that this had involved the addition of copper grease in the mistaken belief that this was a lubricant.

The coroner stressed that the issue would not have been apparent to the man who had acquired the bike, and then subsequently sold it to the deceased.

Changes

She went on to call for changes to the way in which quad bike collisions on private land are investigated.

“The investigation into the deceased’s death had been significantly disadvantaged by the fact that there was no formal probe conducted by the Police Collision Investigation Unit. This was due to collision not having taken place on a public road,” the Coroner said.

“There may be a valid opportunity to review whether it is appropriate for the Collision Investigation Unit to become involved in such incidents where fatality occurs on private land.

“Due to the lack of evidence obtained from the scene, including that there was little or no detailed inspection, including of the quad and its condition and resting position at the time of the accident, I am unable to make a finding as to what caused the deceased to be thrown from the quad.”

She added that the thrust of the evidence was that if the throttle was stuck in the fully or nearly fully open position at the time of the death, then one would expect the quad to be high-revving.

“On the balance of probabilities, I find that the throttle was not stuck in the fully open or nearly fully open position when Mr Nugent arrived at the scene,” she added.