A 13-year old boy with Asperger’s Syndrome was struck and killed by a car while his parents were trying to persuade him to come in off the road, a court has heard.
Callum Dale died after being hit by a car driven by Rachel Fullerton (35) on the outskirts of Buncrana, Co Donegal on March 13th, 2014. Ms Fullerton has gone on trial at Letterkenny Circuit Court charged with careless driving causing his death.
Callum’s mother Deirdre Dale told Judge John O’Hagan her son was very smart but due to his illness he was prone to having “eruptions” and losing his temper. He suffered one of these on the night he was killed.
The boy and his father, Peter, had a disagreement and Callum stormed out of their home in Riverdale Park and began walking up the road.
Ms Dale said she spent 45 minutes trying to calm down Calum. She noted it was dark at the time and the boy was wearing dark clothing. She said her son moved on to the road and she tried to wave down an oncoming Volkswagen Meriva being driven by Ms Fullerton.
“I heard him say I’m going to sit on the road,” Ms Dale said. “I don’t know if he sat down or not. I stood in the road doing that [making a stop gesture] but the car just kept coming. To me there was no brakes and it didn’t slow down and I jumped out of the way. I just heard a bang.”
Mr Dale, who was also attempting to get the boy to come off the road, was also hit by the car and had to spend a number of days in hospital.
Patricia McLaughlin,prosecuting, said subsequent investigations had shown Ms Fullerton had not been drinking, was not using her mobile phone and was not speeding before the collision.
Diagnosis
Mr Dale told the court the family tried its best to cope with Callum’s diagnosis with Asperger’s Syndrome when he was eight years old. They were advised to remove all knives and other objects out of reach due to his “eruptions” of anger.
On the night of his death, Callum had asked his father to buy him three books on religion, in which he had recently become interested. Mr Dale said he might buy him two but he was reluctant to buy the third due to its content. At that stage Callum became unreasonable and picked up a fireside poker and attacked Mr Dale .
Ms Dale suggested they go for a drive and Callum calmed down and left the house with his mother.
Mr Dale then went to check on his wife and child and noticed his son was very agitated close to Cockhill Bridge. He approached his son and pleaded with him to get off the road but he could not say if his son was lying or kneeling on the road - he did not see him in these positions.
“He (Callum) became agitated and moved into the road. I became concerned and I said I would get him the book but he had switched off and wasn’t listening,” Mr Dale said.
“I then saw the defendant’s car coming up the road and I said ‘for goodness sake get off the road’ but I noticed he didn’t meet my gaze...I can’t remember him standing or sitting. I was conscious there was a car coming but those last few seconds don’t exist anymore.”
Mr Dale said he was hit by the car “because I was protecting my boy. I can’t remember being hit but I remember spinning up in the air. I remember hitting my head. Then I heard screaming. I managed to turn on my back. Deirdre said “Peter, Peter, but I couldn’t get up off the floor.”
The trial continues.