Inquest begins into woman’s death caused by lorry wheel

An inquest into the death of a woman from Londonderry, who was killed when a wheel fell off a lorry and struck the car she was travelling in three years ago, has begun.

Shauna McDevitt, a 47-year-old mother of one, died after the accident near Toomebridge on 10 April 2022.

The incident happened when she was travelling home from a Little Mix concert with her partner, Declan Campbell, and their son.

The lorry had continued on and when spoken to by police the driver, Mark Atkinson, said he was not involved in any collision and that there were no defects on his vehicle.

Both Mr Atkinson and the owner of the lorry were previously fined more than £5000 for vehicle defects.

On Thursday, the assistant state pathologist at the time of the accident, Dr Peter Ingram, spoke at the inquest in Coleraine.

He carried out a postmortem examination and determined that Shauna McDevitt suffered a serious head injury which would have led to a “virtually instantaneous death”.

Dr Ingram said Ms McDevitt was “physically quite healthy” and her death was due to the serious head injury and there was no alcohol detected after a blood and urine sample.

In his evidence, Mr Campbell, said he was driving on a clear road at 70mph when he saw a circular object which was yellow or orange in mid air.

He braked and heard a loud noise, and then Ms McDevitt was silent after the object hit the car.

During the inquest it was revealed that the haulage company had since lost their licence after a minister in the Republic of Ireland withdrew it.

The company also lost an appeal in Letterkenny.

One of the drivers employed by the Donegal company carried out checks on two vehicles, including the one involved in the accident, and found nothing that caused him any concern.

On 10 April 2022 at about 23:00 BST a tanker lorry was travelling on the A6 towards Belfast, when a wheel came off the vehicle.

It struck the car Ms McDevitt was travelling in, causing the roof to collapse inwards which fatally injured her.

Ms McDevitt and Mr Campbell’s 10-year-old son, who was in the back seat, was covered in glass and suffered a chest scar. Mr Campbell was not physically injured.

Mr Atkinson and the owner of the lorry have expressed their deepest sympathies to the McDevitt family circle.

Their barrister had described it as a “freak, tragic accident” and said there was genuine remorse because the wheel had somehow become dislodged and caused the accident.

The Judge at that time of the criminal case said it was a tragic event.

The inquest continues on Friday.