Waterford Trial: Bus Driver Accused of Dangerous Driving

A 77 km/h Shock: Jury Hears Fatal Waterford E-Scooter Crash Testimony

In the quiet early hours of June 27, 2024, a routine night drive down Waterford’s Cork Road became a scene of devastating tragedy. The trial of Adrian Doyle, a 43-year-old bus driver accused of dangerous driving causing the deaths of two teenagers, entered its third day with harrowing witness accounts and critical evidence about speed and visibility. RTE reported that Gilbert Collins, 15, and Avuzwa Sampo, 17, were riding a single e-scooter when it collided with Doyle’s bus, killing them both. Doyle has pleaded not guilty.

The Human Toll: A Witness’s Shock

Keith Hatch, a man working the night shift at Schivo Medical, stepped outside for a break around 2am and saw the whole horrifying sequence unfold. He saw the lights of a vehicle pass by quickly, then heard the sickening sound of glass shattering. When he hopped a railing to investigate, he saw the two boys on the ground.

Another man, Stephen Bardgett, who operates a mechanical workshop on the Cork Road, had an encounter with the boys earlier that morning. He recalled overtaking an e-scooter carrying two people, noting the rear passenger looked over his shoulder. He remembered them both wearing dark clothing. Later, when he heard of a collision, he realized it could have been the same two boys he had seen.

Clashing Accounts: Speed, Sight, and a “Black Flash”

The core of the legal battle revolves around conflicting accounts of what happened in the moments before the crash. Evidence presented by Detective Garda Paul Flynn, as reported by RTE, showed that the bus’s onboard dashcam and tachograph recorded a speed of 77km/h at the moment of impact—well above the 50km/h speed limit. When confronted with this, Doyle reportedly said, “it’s a bit of a shock to me, I wasn’t rushing,” as The Munster Express noted from his interview with gardaí.

Waterford Trial: Bus Driver Accused of Dangerous Driving — Photo: waterford-news.ie

Doyle’s version of the event was one of sudden, inexplicable impact. He told gardaí he believed he hit an animal and that everything felt like it went in slow motion. He claimed he pressed the brake twice—the first time it did not work, so he pressed it again. The bus continued for another 15 seconds before stopping.

The prosecution, led by State Prosecutor Niall Storan BL, painted a different picture. Storan, as covered by waterford-news.ie and The Irish Examiner, argued that the high speed directly caused the deaths. He also highlighted the dangerous nature of the e-scooter, which was unlit and deemed not road-legal. Yet, he contended that this did not excuse a driver’s failure to exercise due care. “Speed is a matter of choice,” Storan told the jury, according to waterford-news.ie. “Although the teenagers were on an unlit scooter at 2am, this did not excuse a driver who should have been more careful.”

A key witness for the defence, Craig McDowall, told the court he saw a “black flash”—a fast-moving, unlit e-scooter travelling the wrong way around a roundabout at approximately 1:15am. But the State Prosecutor cross-examined him, pointing out that CCTV footage showed the teenagers were at Snap Fitness in Waterford Retail Park at that very time. McDowall conceded his recollection was approximate, not exact, leaving a critical question of timing and identity hanging in the air.

Defence Calls Case an Appalling Tragedy

The trial also offered a glimpse into the life of the accused. Adrian Doyle, a driver for JJ Kavanagh & Sons, was described by his boss, Donal O’Brien, as a “very conscientious guy,” a statement Alan Kirwan, executive engineer at Waterford City and County Council, read to the jury, as per RTE.

Defence barrister Kate Egan described the case as “an appalling tragedy” and urged the jury not to compound the tragedy.

Gilbert Collins (15) and Avuzwa Idris (17) were killed when their e-scooter collided with a bus in an early morning crash — Photo: The Irish Times

The Unanswered Questions

The evidence is clear on some points: the bus was speeding, the e-scooter was illegal and unlit, and two young men are dead. But the crucial questions of intent and control remain. Did Doyle knowingly speed, or was he truly unaware, as he claimed? Was the brake failure he described real, or a panicked reaction? And what, if anything, could he have done differently in the split second before impact?

With closing speeches delivered, the jury will now begin its deliberations, tasked with answering the most difficult question of all: who bears responsibility for the loss of two teenage lives on a dark Waterford road.