We’re all beer for landing..
Accused walks out of court with a four-year driving ban
A MICHIGAN beer company has enlisted the help of a seaplane to make special deliveries.
Steve Smith took off with Joe Short of Short’s Brewing Co to deliver six crates of beer to waterfront properties in Antrim County.
A SPEEDING off-duty garda who left the scene of a crash that killed a mother of three walked free from court yesterday.
Patrick Mcdonnell, 40, admitted a charge of dangerous driving causing the death of Jacqueline Wolohan.
But the accused avoided jail as a judge handed him a four-year driving ban and a suspended sentence.
The smash happened on February 13, 2016, on the M4 motorway at Rossan, Kinnegad in Co Meath.
Mrs Wolohan, 51, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Prosecuting counsel Carl Hanahoe BL told Trim Circuit Court in Meath that Mcdonnell, from Corofin, Co Galway, was over the speed limit when his Opel Astra rear-ended a Nissan Micra driven by Mrs Wolohan on a straight stretch of the motorway at 1.14am.
Both cars were on the left lane of the Dublin-bound carriageway and the Micra was propelled into the grass verge.
Mrs Wolohan had been travelling home to Dublin with her teenage son, one of his friends and a terminally ill cousin.
Sovin Govinder, an inspector from the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission, told the court another motorist informed gardai Mcdonnell was “doing close to 140kmh when he flew past her before the crash”.
Another driver who had been overtaken said he saw the accused swerving for a time in the centre of the carriageway before he came across the collision.
The victim had been travelling at 70kmh to 75kmh, the court heard.
The prosecutor told Judge Terence O’sullivan that Mcdonnell was not at the scene when gardai arrived and in spite of a search involving a heat seeking device, could not be located. Six hours later, he contacted a member of the National Roads Authority and admitted he was involved in the incident.
The court heard a Garda investigation found both cars had been in good working order and concluded the collision was due to driver error.
A victim impact statement prepared by Mrs Wolohan’s daughter Alison on behalf of the family and read by Mr Hanahoe described the victim as a “kind, caring, loving person who would help anyone in need”.
It added: “She was young, lively and
Gardai at scene of deadly crash loved life. We are a close-knit family and have had no real family celebration since the crash.”
Ms Wolohan added they “had been dragged from court date to court date” with no acknowledgement from Mcdonnell for what happened, waiting for the case to be finalised but now they hoped they could begin their grieving process.
Defence barrister Paul Greene SC said Mcdonnell had very little recollection of the crash in spite of undergoing regression therapy to try to recall the night.
He said his client had later been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Mr Greene added the accused had now written a letter of apology for the bereaved family.
Judge O’sullivan remarked Mrs Wolohan should not have died if Mcdonnell had taken more care but added it seemed to be at the lower end of the middle range of dangerous driving cases.
He imposed a suspended sentence of two years with a four-year driving ban, meaning Mcdonnell will not spend a single day behind bars.