Sean McElwee death: Lorry driver in court over County Tyrone crash

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-32286371

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A lorry driver has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving following a crash in County Tyrone.

Albertas Daskevicius, from Ballykelly, County Londonderry, was charged over the death of Sean McElwee on Saturday.

Mr McElwee, groundsman of Cookstown Father Rocks GAA club, was one of three people killed in separate collisions in County Tyrone over the weekend.

The other victims were Jane Burnside from Cookstown and an unnamed woman in her 50s killed in a crash in the town.

Ms Burnside, 23, died after being hit by a car on Gortnagammon Road, Tullyhogue, outside Cookstown, on Saturday morning.

The other woman, whose name has not been released, died in a single-vehicle collision on Moneymore Road, Cookstown, early on Sunday morning.

Mr McElwee, who was in his 40s, was driving a van at Melmount Road, between Strabane and Sion Mills, when he was involved in the fatal crash.

The lorry driver accused of causing the collision also faces a number of other charges, including driving without insurance and without a tachograph.

Enniskillen Magistrates' Court was told that 49-year-old Mr Daskevicius, from Bawncourt in Ballykelly, admitted to police that the collision was his fault.

A police officer said he had pulled out to pass a lorry that was slowing down to turn left when he crossed the white line into the path of an oncoming vehicle.

The court heard that he had not consumed alcohol, and there was no evidence the accused was speeding or using a mobile telephone at the time.

Mr Daskevicius is currently unemployed but had agreed to buy the lorry and had made a payment of £2,000 in an effort to secure work.

He was released on bail on condition that he does not drive and surrenders his passport and identity documents.

The lorry driver is due to appear at Strabane Magistrates' Court on 14 May.