Ballyshannon motorcyclist has 'no memory' of crash that left him with life-altering injuries

A Ballyshannon motorcyclist has told how he has no memory of a road traffic collision that resulted in him having to have a leg amputated.

David Lecky was left with life-altering injuries following a collision with a car outside Carrigans in August 2016.

Levi Morrison, a 29-year-old with an address at Tudor Court Rosemount, Derry, has gone on trial at Letterkenny Circuit Court in connection with the incident.

Morrison has pleaded not guilty to a charge of dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm to Mr Lecky at Dunmore, Carrigans, on August 17, 2016. Morrison pleaded guilty to charges of driving without insurance and of failing to produce insurance on the same day.

Morrison was driving an Audi A4, which he had purchased the previous day, when he collided with the Suzuki motorbike being driven by Mr Lecky. The court heard that Morrison was driving the car from Derry to Carrigans as there was a ‘problem with it’.

Ms Fiona Crawford BL opened the case on behalf of the prosecution on Wednesday.

Garda Sergeant Gerry McCauley, a forensic collision investigator, gave evidence of attending the scene of the accident, which was a distance of around 1.4km from Carrigans village. Maps and photographs showing the scene were given to the jury.

The court heard that the motorcycle came to a rest on a grass verge following a head-on collision with a car.

Mr Lecky, aged 55 and of Ashbrooke Drive in Ballyshannon, told the trial that he has ‘no memory whatsoever of the collision’.

Mr Lecky said he has a ‘vague memory’ of leaving his home and taking his motorbike as his car was with a mechanic at the time.

“I remember going out the back door, but I have no memory of even getting onto the bike,” he said.

His first memory after waking from a coma in Galway Hospital was of being able to move his left arm ‘a wee bit’ but was unable to move anything else.

“The abiding memory is of the nursing staff coming around and putting a clip on my finger to take blood pressure,” Mr Lecky said. “I remember thinking it was a bit spiteful to put it on the one part of my body that I could move.”

Mr Lecky had his left leg amputated from the knee down in early 2017 described himself as ‘functionally a full-time wheelchair user’.

Witness Mr Aidan Donoghue, told the trial that he was working in the Donegal area and stayed in Ballybofey the previous night. He was traveling from the Inisleigh Co-Op to Donegal Meats in Carrigans on the morning in question.

Mr Donoghue was driving a Mitsubishi Outlander and recalled how he was aware of a motorcyclist behind him. As he turned right for the meat factory, Mr Donoghue said he was still aware of the motorcyclist behind him and told the trial that he got the ‘impression’ of a car coming from the Derry direction at a high speed.

He recalled how he heard a bang after he turned down the road before returning to see that a collision occurred between a motorbike and a car. Mr Donoghue telephoned the emergency services and remained at the scene.

Morrison is represented in the case by Mr Colm Smyth SC and Mr Peter Nolan BL, instructed by solicitor Kieran O’Gorman

The case continues before Judge John Aylmer and a jury of eight men and four women.

It is estimated that the case will last for three days.