Detectives investigating a fatal collision, which claimed the lives of a father and son in Killylea, say a “potential other person has been identified”.
During an update in the case against 32-year-old Ivan Petrov, of Newry Road, Armagh – at the city’s Magistrates’ Court, sitting in Newry – the public prosecutor revealed that she had been advised by the investigating officer that “reports are well in hand in relation to the mechanics of the accident, but another line of inquiry in relation to a potential other person has been identified, and those inquiries are ongoing.”
She asked for a further four-week adjournment in the case in what she described as “an ongoing and very complex investigation into a fatality which occurred just after Christmas on the Killylea Road in Armagh.”
Father and son Peter Devlin (63) and his son Loughlin Devlin (28) died as a result of a collision on December 27 – just a mile from their family home.
The 32-year-old is further charged with causing grievous bodily injury to a woman, also by dangerous driving.
Previous courts have heard how a black Mercedes being driven by Loughlin Devlin was involved in a head-on collision with an Audi A8 being driven by Petrov.
It was just after 12.30pm on December 27, 2024, when police received an “automatic crash notification” linked to an iPhone belonging to a passenger in the Mercedes. Shortly after that, members of the public rang 999 to alert police.
Peter and Loughlin Devlin were pronounced dead at the scene. Three other passengers, including a baby, were taken to hospital.
The court heard that Petrov had to be freed from his Audi, after which he was taken to hospital, where he was treated for a broken arm and rib fractures.
After he was discharged from the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, Petrov was charged with the offences.
When Petrov first appeared in court, Constable Hoy outlined that, from photographs, crime scene investigators and witness accounts from other drivers, police believe that the Audi had “failed to negotiate a left-hand bend” and had veered onto the wrong side of the road, causing the head-on collision.
In court today, defence counsel Bobbie Rea raised no objection to the adjournment.
Deputy District Judge Brian Archer remanded the defendant back into custody and re-listed the case for April 29.
