Inquest hears Mayo motorcyclist died instantly in Ballinrobe crash

A motorcyclist was killed instantly after he suffered severe head and chest injuries after crashing in south Mayo.

The inquest into the death of Latvian national Bruno Smits of 69 Cill O Sheighin, Ballinrobe, who died on June 17, opened this morning in Ballina Courthouse.

The inquest heard that Mr Smits (43) was killed instantly after his motorbike left the road while travelling along the Claremorris road in Ballinrobe at approximately 7.55pm on June 17.

Dr Tomas Nemeth, Consultant Pathologist who performed the post mortem in Mayo University Hospital, stated that Mr Smits suffered extreme high impact injuries resulting in a number of bones being broken in his body.

Dr Nemeth explained that he suffered severe brain injuries while his heart was also damaged due to the impact to his chest cavity.

He found that the cause of death was due to severe brain injury due to traumatic head injury.

When asked by Dr Eleanor Fitzgerald, Coroner for Mayo, if death was instant, Dr Nemeth said his injuries were incompatible with life and agreed that death was instant.

READ MORE: Motorcyclist who died in Mayo accident to be repatriated back to Latvia

The inquest was opened to allow the family of Mr Smits to repatriate his body to Latvia where he is due to be buried.

Sergeant Seán Burke told the Coroner that he attended the scene and described a motorbike on the side of the road facing Claremorris. He said CPR was performed on the victim but he was unresponsive and death was pronounced at 8.18pm. He described the weather conditions on the evening as dry.

A forensic investigation was carried out at the scene and Dr Fitzgerald was informed it will be three to four months before the investigation is completed. Dr Fitzgerald expressed sympathy to Mr Smits family on their tragic loss and adjourned the finalisation of the inquest to a later date.