Unaccompanied learner driver caused crash that killed US tourist on holiday at famous Laois heritage site

A young unaccompanied learner driver is to be sentenced later this week for causing a fatal collision near a famous heritage site in Laois which killed an American tourist on the first day of her holiday in Ireland.

Jamie Kearns (20) pleaded guilty at a Portlaoise Circuit Criminal Court to a charge of dangerous driving causing the death of Laura Jones (59) near the Rock of Dunamase off the main Portlaoise-Stradbally road on October 7, 2022.

Kearns, a construction labourer from Cosby Avenue, Portlaoise, Co Laois also pleaded guilty to a separate charge of dangerous driving causing serious harm to the victim’s husband, Doug Jones, during the same incident which occurred around 1.15pm.

Judge Keenan Johnson suggested that the speed limit on the narrow road where the collision occurred should be reduced to 30km/h after hearing evidence from a Garda witness that its current limit of 80km/h was “inappropriate” as well as a lower limit of 50km/h.

Sergeant Catherine Kelliher told a hearing on Wednesday that the couple from Parker, Colorado in the US had arrived in Dublin Airport earlier that day and decided to stop off at the Rock of Dunamase on the way to spend their holiday in the south-west.

Sgt Kelliher said the couple were accompanied by their younger daughter, Erin and her husband, Jacob, who had gone ahead of them after they had parked their vehicle at a car park near the well-known tourist site.

She told counsel for the DPP, Will Fennelly BL, that the group recalled hearing a car driving fast before seeing it coming towards them and going completely out of control at high speed.

US citizen Laura Jones who died when a car driven by Jamie Kearns hit her. Picture Collins Dublin

The court heard that a 09-reg Ford Fiesta driven by Kearns knocked the victim and her husband over a wall before crashing into the wall itself.

Sgt Kelliher said a large portion of the wall also fell on Ms Jones who was rendered unconscious from the collision, while her husband suffered serious leg injuries and required surgery at the Midlands Regional Hospital in Tullamore later that evening.

The witness said Ms Jones suffered serious internal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene despite efforts to resuscitate her. The court heard that the defendant had been out for a spin with three friends in a vehicle that he had bought just two weeks earlier.

Sgt Kelliher confirmed that Kearns was on a provisional driving licence and was not accompanied by a fully qualified driver at the time of the fatal crash.

She said the three other occupants of the car had told gardaí that the accused had been driving too fast and they were asking him to slow down. The court heard Kearns remained at the scene and helped remove some of the debris away from the victim.

He told gardaí during a series of interviews that he was driving at 40-45km/h before the accident and had slowed down to 20-25km/h after seeing pedestrians and vehicles to his right after coming over a brow of a hill. Kearns also denied his friends had asked him to slow down a number of times and did not accept he was speeding.

Sgt Kelliher said a garda forensic collision investigator had been unable to provide an estimate of the speed of the vehicle at the point of impact. Counsel for Kearns, Conor Devally SC, said his client wished to convey his “overwhelming sorrow” to his victim’s family for what he had done.

Mr Devally pointed out that the Garda investigation had shown that the defendant had no alcohol or drugs in his system at the time of the crash and had not been using his mobile phone. The court heard that Kearns, who has no previous convictions, had left school at 16 without completing his Junior Certificate.

In a victim impact statement read out on his behalf by Garda Andrea Byrne, Mr Jones said his family had suffered “overwhelming emotional pain” as a result of what he described as “a careless, reckless, selfish and stupid act.” “Our lives were changed forever,” said Mr Jones.

He expressed regret at not being able to celebrate his 30^th wedding anniversary with his wife a few months later and how she had also missed the wedding of their older daughter, Elizabeth.

Mr Jones also expressed dismay that his other daughter had witnessed her mother’s death, while he had suffered injuries which his doctors were unsure would ever fully heal.

Judge Johnson offered his sympathy to the Jones family for experiencing “such an unspeakable tragedy” just after they had arrived in Ireland for a holiday. He remanded Kearns on continuing bail and adjourned sentencing in the case until later this week.

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