Austrian tourist's 'tragic error' caused death of Donegal woman (89), court hears

Stephen Maguire

An Austrian tourist visiting Co Donegal killed an 89-year-old woman when he drove on the wrong side of the road after getting confused while looking for a local attraction.

Martin Mittsmannsgruber, a father-of-three, appeared at Donegal Circuit Court where he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of Elizabeth Cave.

The court was told the 53-year-old was holidaying in Ireland with his wife on August 25th, 2024, when the tragedy occurred.

The couple had been using a map to find their way to a place known as the Secret Waterfall near Killybegs.

The accused mistakenly thought he had passed the turn-off for the road to the attraction at Inver Glebe, Inver, and decided to do a u-turn.

However, Garda Sergeant Oliver Devaney told the court that when he did so, he returned to the wrong side of the road in the Dacia Jogger car he was driving.

Approximately 300 metres up the road while still discussing directions on a map with his wife, the engineer and volunteer fireman crashed head-on with another car.

That car, a Volkswagen Up, was being driven by Cave who was on her way to attend St John's Church in Killybegs.

Cave, a mother of four adult children from Donegal Town, was rushed to Sligo University Hospital and taken to intensive care but unfortunately died from her injuries two days later.

The accused, of 24A Arnberg, Wartberg, Austria 4224, entered an early plea to a single charge of dangerous driving causing death.

The offence is contrary to Section 53(1) and 53(2)(a) (as substituted by Section 4(1) of the Road Traffic (No 2) Act 2011) of the Road Traffic Act 1961 (as amended by Section 5(k) of the Road Traffic and Roads Act 2023.

Sergeant Devaney told the court that although it was summer, there had been torrential rain at the time of the collision and that cars were driving with their headlights on.

He added that the accused man was cooperative at all times and became very emotional and was genuinely shocked when he realised he had driven on the wrong side of the road.

The tragic collision had been captured on a dashcam which had been installed in Cave's car after she had suffered a stroke three years earlier but from which she had made an almost full recovery.

Cave's daughter Vera took to the witness stand and told the court that her family did not bear the accused man any ill will.

She said the family also accepted that there was no intention on his part to cause the accident that morning.

Vera Cave said that while driving in a foreign country, Mittsmannsgruber had made an error. She added that the family “bear this heartache” every day of having lost their beloved mother.

She added: “We know that she would not wish a severe penalty to be imposed on Mr Mittsmannsgruber for his mistake - and nor do we.”

The court was also told that since the tragedy, Mittsmannsgruber had visited the grave of Mrs Cave with her family's permission and had laid flowers.

He told the court that he would again like to sincerely apologise to the Cave family and that he was aware that he caused the death of their mother, which was something he will have to live with forever.

He told how he was seeking help from a psychologist to cope with what he had done and that he had visited Mrs Cave's grave.

He added that he will now use his time as a volunteer with the fire service in his native Austria to honour the memory of the late Mrs Cave.

Barrister for the accused man, Colm Smyth, said this was the first time that his client had driven a right-hand-drive car.

He added that Mittsmannsgruber was "clearly distracted" and that he must now pay the consequences of those actions.

However, he asked the court to take into account the fact that the accused came to court with no previous convictions of any kind and with glowing references from both his employer and the fire service in his own country.

He added that his client had "made a tragic error" and that he has since shown regret and remorse for his actions.

He asked Judge John Aylmer to consider not imposing an immediate custodial sentence.

Passing sentence, Judge Aylmer said it was to the credit of the Cave family that they had seen the incident for exactly what it was - a case of 'momentary inattention'.

He recounted how Mittsmannsgruber had done a u-turn having thought he missed his turn and then "slipped into your national mode of driving on the right-hand side of the road" and encountered the very unfortunate Mrs Cave, who lost her life in very tragic circumstances.

Judge Aylmer said he placed the incident at the lower or if not the lowest end of the scale and one which merited a sentence of 18 months in prison before mitigation.

In mitigation, he said the accused was an upstanding member of the community who had never come to any adverse attention and that this was obviously an "aberration in your life to date".

He noted his remorse and the fact that he visited Mrs Cave's grave and also his early plea of guilty.

For these factors, Judge Aylmer reduced the sentence to one of 12 months in prison.

He then said he had to consider if he could suspend all or part of that sentence and because of his lack of previous convictions and his blameless past, he was suspending the entirety of the sentence.

He also imposed a mandatory four-year driving disqualification but agreed to a request to defer this for six months until December 1st next.

Judge Aymer also said the court would like to express its condolences to the Cave family.