THE body of a young Irish girl was found in a field up to 10 metres away after a brutal car crash in the West of Ireland, a court has heard.
Caitlin Taylor, 14, was killed on a road in Scartlaglen, Co. Kerry on the night of June 15, 2014.
The Co. Cork native was a passenger in a Toyota Yaris car driven by Sarah O’Connell, who is now on trial at the Circuit Criminal Court in Tralee.
Ms O’Connell denies a charge of careless driving causing the death of the teenager, whose body was concealed by a herd of cows in a field shortly after the crash.
Also in the car was Ms O’Connell’s 18-month-old daughter, who was rescued uninjured from her booster seat after the badly-damaged car left the road.
Day one of the trial on Tuesday heard how the trio were on their way from Mallow, Co. Cork to Castleisland in Co. Kerry when tragedy struck.
The prosecution allege that as the Toyota approached a left-hand bend, it went off the road and mounted a ditch before crashing into a field beneath the laneway.
"Ms Taylor was thrown from the vehicle and sustained fatal injuries at the scene," the prosecution said.
A witness to the crash, Marion Dennehy, said she came across a dazed Ms O’Connell at the scene in a state of distress.
She kept calling out for her “friend” who she believed was nearby in the field.
Ms Dennehy’s son Cian then spotted a number of cows gathered around what turned out to be the body of Ms Taylor.
Tragic Ms Taylor was lying around 5-10 metres in front of the car with the car windscreen alongside her, Cian Dennehy told Judge Thomas E O’Donnell.
His mother performed CPR on Caitlin until paramedics arrived at the scene at 11.37pm.
She was pronounced dead after no pulse was found, the court heard.
The trial of Sarah O'Connell continues today.
