Mayo family claim SuperValu played Russian roulette with people’s lives

The family of Mayo woman Maureen Hopkins have said that her death was needless and could have been avoided if a risk assessment which highlighted safety hazards of the Super Valu car park, in which she died, had been acted upon.

The sentencing hearing of Kavanagh Retailing Unlimited Company heard that a risk assessment of the SuperValu car park in Westport highlighted hazards in 2020 but was not acted upon until after the death of Mrs Hopkins on June 6, 2024.

The grandmother was struck by a delivery truck in the car park at the rear entrance to Kavanagh's SuperValu in Westport as walked towards the supermarket to buy soft rolls for her grandchildren.

In the victim impact statement on behalf of the Hopkins family, her daughter Sinéad Hopkins told the court that while accidents happen in life, the family found it 'impossible to accept' that SuperValu Westport had a 'risk assessment document that could have prevented all of this'.

“What makes mum's death so difficult to accept is the knowledge that prior to mum being killed, SuperValu Westport had conducted a risk assessment of the car park and had in their hand a document that outlined the risks posed in that car park. Yet they did not act on it.

“SuperValu chose to play a game of Russian roulette but they were the only ones aware of the stakes. Accidents happen and are an unfortunate part of life and we must accept and cannot prevent every tragedy or control every circumstance. But having seen the footage of mum being killed I have no doubt in my mind that mum would still be alive today had the loading bay not been removed.

​Shocking knowledge

“I cannot think of what happened without being confronted with the shocking knowledge that this tragedy could have been avoided.

“If there is one thing I hope that I can take from mum's death is that human life always matters more than the convenience of commercial interests,” she said.

She added that her mother had fought cancer and setbacks in her treatment because she wanted to live and she should have been allowed to 'continue making memories' with her husband Chris and her five children and nine grandchildren.

Ms Hopkins also said that it would be remiss of her not to mention the truck driver, Mihail Tanasevici who received a five month prison sentence and that he and his family “have been left with the consequences of a tragedy which has changed lives forever.”

George Darcy, a brother of Maureen Hopkins, also gave a victim impact statement on behalf of him and his sister Ann Eustace. He recalled going weak at the knees after being told of the tragedy in his home in Bagenalstown, Co Carlow and having to pass it on to his sister Ann.

He said his sister Maureen was a life long good and loyal customer of SuperValu in Westport and her death was needless and this continues to weigh on their mind.

“This tragedy could certainly have been avoided if the proper safety measures had been in place to protect everyone using that car park on the day my sister was killed. This for us creates a deep sense of injustice and a constant feeling of sorrow and uneasiness. Why were all these hazards and dangers not identified and rectified and why was the car park used by my sister Maureen and many other people not made safe. Who is responsible?

Accountability

“No court will bring her back but we want to see accountability and recognition of the severe lapse of basic safety to allow this tragedy to occur,” he said.

Mr Darcy told the court he visited the scene early on June 7, 2024 and recalled that it was busy as usual in the car park less than 24 hours after his sister's death. He added when he asked two members of staff to show him where she died, he said they pointed to where he should go but nobody accompanied him.

“Nobody came with me and nobody asked if I was okay and believe it or not to this day I still don't know the spot in the SuperValu car park where my sister lay for hours.

“As time has passed since that day, I simply cannot understand why this situation was allowed to happen on the day I called. I was more than surprised and very much disappointed to see the door leading to the car park open and being used.

“I might have expected to see that door closed even for a short while which was less than a day after Maureen's death. Indeed it was open and was being used on the evening of Maureen's wake and the people queuing for her wake had to make way for those using the same entrance to the shop. I believe all of this was rather insensitive considering the circumstances," he said.

Mr Darcy recalled how the car park was transformed when he returned to Westport for Maureen's Month's Mind Mass.

“It had everything a safe car park should have. If only some of these had been in place on that morning of June 6, 2024, our sister Maureen would still be alive and we would be visiting her in her lovely home in Rosmoney in Carrowholly instead of a graveyard in Kilmeena where she now lies.”