Car struck by tyre in fatal crash 'couldn't have evaded it'

A car struck by a tyre that had separated from a tanker lorry could have taken "no evasive action", an inquest into the death of a 47-year-old woman has found.

Shauna McDevitt, a mother of one, died near Toomebridge on 10 April 2022.

The inquest found that her death was caused by the impact of the lorry tyre hitting the car.

Shauna's family have said they are still trying to come to terms with what happened and she is "missed every day".

Shauna McDevitt had been travelling home from a Little Mix concert with her partner, Declan Campbell and their son Cillian.

She died instantly from serious head injuries after the roof collapsed inwards when the wheel struck it.

A cononer told the hearing that although she acknowledged the cause was wheel bearing failure, she was satisfied the failure had occurred over time and that there was "a lenient approach in regard to vehicle maintenance and inspection".

She told the hearing that there was a failure by the company that owned the tanker lorry to register it and that it didn't have a valid certificate of road worthiness.

The coroner's court sitting at Laganside in Belfast on Friday, also heard evidence from a detective who attended the scene.

Delivering a written statement, they told the court that arriving on the scene it was apparent there had been "a devastating collision of some sort".

The weather and road were both "fine" and a black vehicle had suffered substantial damage and its windscreen was smashed.

He told the inquest that he "observed a wheel 50 yards behind the car down a grass verge".

He said it was "obvious that it was from a heavy goods vehicle".

Shauna's family have said they are still trying to come to terms with her loss.

Declan Campbell, Shauna's partner, said she was at the centre of their family and loved and cherished by everyone.

"Cillian described it as the best night of his life which turned into the worst night of his life," he said.

"He loved his music and loved to sing and him and his mum loved going to concerts and spending time together.

"Shauna loved being a mother and was devoted to Cillian.

"It was the best thing that ever happened to her in her life and unfortunately he's going to have to live the rest of his life without her."

Shauna's brother Conor said his sister was missed every single day.

"It has a massive effect on all of us," he said.

"From seeing pictures of her at the concert with a loved one as an Easter treat, to waking up in the middle of the night knowing she wasn't with us was surreal.

"I was at my work and came back to find this out. It was like someone woke me up from a nightmare. It wasn't like reality at all."

He described his sister as the glue in the family.

He said whenever anyone had a problem "we had Shauna to fix it for us".

He added that there's "not a day we don't think about Shauna. She was one of those people who just lit up a room when she walked into it.

"But I do feel a sense of anger. A sense of how prevention definitely could have happened."

Lorry driver Mark Atkinson told police he was unaware he was involved in a collision.

The Donegal based haulage company he worked for at the time had its licence removed by the minister for transport in the Republic of Ireland.

Its director, Ivor Reilly, and Atkinson were fined more than £5,000 for defects on the vehicle at a previous court in Antrim in 2024.

The vehicle had no certificate of road worthiness on either side of the border.

Nor was it registered on any data bases in either jurisdiction. The family say the law must change to protect wider society.

Shauna's sister, Alison Lowery, said she wants to see greater cross border co-operation to crack down on companies that are breaking the law.

"A motor vehicle, a car, can be taken off the road if it hasn't had an MOT but a heavy goods trailer can continue on its journey if it's never had a certificate of road worthiness, carrying the huge loads that they carry," she said.

"I think that's just unacceptable in this day and age and I think the legislation really does need changed."

A Department for Infrastructure spokesperson said "The department has strong working relationships already with our counterparts in the south and will continue to work collaboratively with them."

They said that the Road Transport Act 2011 requires anyone engaging in the profession of road haulage operator to hold a valid road haulage operator's licence. and that any work undertaken by a road haulage operator must be done with a vehicle authorised on their licence at that time

Alison Lowery said her sister would be sorely missed: "She was just one of the best people that you could want as a sister really."