Fatal Virginia hit and run recalled in court

A Belturbet man has been fined €2,000 at a special sitting of Virginia District Court on a charge of careless driving in relation to a fatal hit and run accident outside the town in 2008. Ronnie Ahmed from Kilnaher, Belturbet, faced four charges relating to the accident including careless driving, failing to remain at the scene of an accident, failing to stop, and failing to give appropriate information to gardaí when asked. Sarah Shields (18) of Virginia was found dead on the side of the N3 in the early hours of September 27, 2008, shortly after leaving a nearby nightclub. The court heard that Mr. Ahmed had been driving to Dublin that night when his car drove over the girl's body, which was already lying on the road. He pulled into the American Stores shop on the N3 four miles from the scene of the accident to examine his car. CCTV footage showed him examining his car at the petrol station. At this point, Mr. Ahmed telephoned Bailieboro Garda Station to say he had driven over a pile of bricks. Shortly after the accident a lorry driver travelling from Kells to Virginia discovered the body of the girl on the road. The girl was wearing white trousers and a white jacket and the lorry driver told the court that he was forced to pull his loaded HGV onto the opposite side of the road to avoid hitting her body. After veering onto the far side of the road, the driver, Shane McGrath of Castle Road, Dungannon, Co. Tyrone, got out and raised the alarm. He told counsel for the DPP: "There were no signs of life." A garda witness told the court that Mr. Ahmed's car, a white Renault Traffic, was found at Dublin Airport and brought to Santry garda station for forensic examination. During this examination, debris found at the scene of the collision was matched with parts missing from the car's front mud guard. Judge Patrick Clyne found Mr. Ahmed guilty of careless driving for which he said the maximum punishment was a €2,000 fine or three months in jail. The Shields family, who were present throughout the trial, asked the judge not to jail the man. Sarah's father Ambrose Shields said: "As a family we don't want to send him to jail. This man has a family." At the end of the trial, the judge the court: "We'll probably never find out what happened to the poor girl that night." Speaking after the trial, Mr. Shields who moved from Dublin to Virginia with his family two years ago, said: "I don't believe Mr. Ahmed killed Sarah but he did run over her. Why didn't he stop at the scene?" "My feeling is that Sarah was dead before that. Something happened to her before that accident. As far as we're concerned it's not ending here. She wasn't there, on the side of the road, by her own accord."