Robert Harrison’s unfit ruling quashed over fatal dangerous driving

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Robert Harrison’s unfit-for-trial ruling was overturned by the Court of Appeal on 7 July 2016 in a dangerous-driving-causing-death case.

The case concerns the death of passenger Nicola Roberts and serious injury to another passenger in a crash at Drung, Cootehill, County Cavan, on 11 November 2009.

The court said the earlier ruling had prematurely conflated fitness to stand trial with whether a fair trial could take place. It ordered that the case proceed at least for the moment, while leaving the trial judge to decide whether it could continue to a conclusion. Harrison was remanded on bail for the next scheduled sitting of Cavan Circuit Criminal Court, expected on 22 November.