A man who killed an elderly woman in a hit-and-run incident involving a stolen e-scooter has been jailed for six and a half years.
Mary Bernie (87), known as Peg, died from her injuries three days after she was knocked down on Eccles Street, Dublin 7, on June 20th last year.
Aaron Gumble (28), of Drumalee Park, North Circular Road, Dublin 7, was sentenced on Thursday to eight years in prison, with the final 18 months suspended.
Gumble, who had been on bail for theft offences at the time, was also disqualified from driving for 10 years. He had pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, causing death, leaving the scene and theft of an e-scooter from the underground carpark of the Mater Public Hospital.
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Passing sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, Judge Pauline Codd said the family of the late Mrs Bernie were dealing with “unspeakable trauma” from the harrowing loss of their treasured mother.
After viewing CCTV footage of the incident, Judge Codd noted that Gumble had shouted for help where Mrs Bernie lay on the ground before fleeing the scene. “He seemed more motivated to make good his getaway than to help the woman he had collided with and left on the ground. He asked others to help her but wasn’t willing to do so himself,” she said.
Setting a headline sentence of nine and a half years, Judge Codd said it was a significant aggravating factor that Gumble had left the scene.
Reading her victim impact report on behalf of the Bernie family, Denise McDonnell remembered her mother as “a kind, generous, gym-going, bridge-playing, energetic woman, who expressed her love for her family through cooking and baking”.
Gumble has 140 previous convictions, the court heard.
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