An inquest into the death of two young men killed in a car crash outside Omagh in 2016 has heard that alcohol was “cleary an issue in this case.”

Maurice McCloughan from Fintona and Killian Doherty from Drumquin were killed on December 10, 2016 on the Doogary Road.

Coroner Patrick McGurgan said it was his duty to raise awareness to other young drivers, in particular, young male drivers about driving with alcohol.

The inquest yesterday (Wednesday) heard how they were likely to have died almost immediately with Mr. McGurgan adding that he hoped the inquest gave the families some sort of closure.

In the first day, the inquest heard from the family of both victims and a witness who attended the scene of the crash.

In an emotional day at Omagh Courthouse, Maurice’s brother Kevin told the inquest how his brother was the “heart and soul of everything” and who was very close to all his family as well as being the best footballer in the family as well.

He described how the loss of Maurice had devastated the family with time not making the loss any easier.

Killian’s father Finbarr Slane said how his son, who was driving to work, was not afraid of a day’s work when called as a witness.

Mr. McGurgan read out the autopsy report from Assistant State Pathologist Dr. Chris Johnston.

The reports concluded that the cause of death for Killian was injuries to head, neck and chest injuries in a road traffic collision.

The report stated that there was a reading of 128mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. However, it said that although it may have affected his driving ability, he would have died from his injuries anyway.

The report concluded that Maurice had died as a result of chest, abdominal and head injuries in a road traffic collision.

Both men were wearing seatbelts however, it was heard during the inquest that Maurice had been ejected from the car.

Mr. McGurgan said that from reading Dr. Johnston’s comments and the autopsies, the two young men “would not have suffered in the final moments of their lives”.

A cousin and aunt of Killian described the night before the accident when the two best friends had gone to Draperstown to see a DJ who Killian liked and the following morning when the two boys left Killian’s aunt’s house in Greencastle because Killian had to go to work as he needed money to fix his car.

One of the first witnesses on the scene, Eamon Mallon, described how he had come around a bend on a stretch of road leaving Omagh where he saw a man getting out of car before driving on and seeing another male lying on the road.

When he pulled in to go back and help, he noticed another car, a silver Renault Laguna, belonging to Killian on its roof on a footpath.

He called 999 while going to the young man lying on the road, who was convulsing.

“It seemed like he was fighting for his life.”

He went on to describe seeing another male in the Renault Laguna and being an “awful colour”.

The two families thanked Mr. Mallon for the help he gave to Maurice and Killian in their final moments.

The driver of the second car involved in the collision was in court to give his recollection of events. Gerard McCann was on his way to work when the accident took place. He described seeing a ball of light coming towards him. He had no recollection of the impact and how it was all a daze for him.

He suffered a broken sternum, four broken ribs, a broken wrist and three broken bones on his right foot.

With a map of the crash scene for reference he described how he got out of his car and went towards Maurice lying on the ground, before noticing the Renault Laguna lying on its roof behind his car. He tried to help but was finding it difficult with his injuries and he eventually went and sat on a barrier at the side of the road before being put in an ambulance and leaving the scene.

The Coroner remarked: “For you to be sitting here today is a miracle. I could have been dealing with three inquests.

The families asked the coroner to express their gratitude to Mr. McCann for any assistance he rendered in spite of his injuries.

Mr. McGurgan stressed that there was no criticism about the way Mr. McCann was driving at the time.

Another witness, Michael Garvey, who was also provided with a map for reference, had a near miss with the Renault Laguna before the collision.

In what was a detailed description of what he witnessed, he describes seeing the car coming around the bend with the headlights not where they should be in relation to the road. The car came passed his door, avoiding hitting his car. He went to say how through looking in his side view and rear view mirrors he saw the car overcorrect itself as it hit the crash barrier before the front end left the road, bouncing. Mr. Garvey focussed on the direction he was travelling when he heard a bang which he believed was a collision. The inquest was continuing as this newspaper went to press yesterday (Wednesday).