A Cork man has been given a two-year suspended jail sentence after he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of his girlfriend.
John Goggin (34), Park Lane, Parklands, Commons Road, was driving to Bandon with his girlfriend, Susan Walsh, when the accident happened at Rigsdale, Ballinhassig, on the main Cork-Bandon Road on last February 24th.
Goggins's car spun out of control and overturned. The couple were going to buy furniture for their new home.
Sgt Rory O'Dwyer told Cork Circuit Criminal Court yesterday that another motorist estimated that Goggin was doing 80 m.p.h. in his 2.5 litre BMW when he overtook another car and then swerved to avoid a series of plastic bollards marking road works.
Sgt O'Dwyer said the car travelled 106m from the first bollard until it hit a flower bed. It then overturned 2½ times, landing on its roof which collapsed over Ms Walsh, killing her immediately.
Ms Walsh's father, Michael, told the court that his daughter was "the bubbly one in the family". They had all been devas- tated by her death and it was impossible to describe what the family had gone through since.
Mr Walsh said Goggin was "a very decent young man and he also is suffering badly". He asked Judge Patrick Moran to be as lenient as he could. His wife, Ms Breda Walsh, said if Susan was alive, she would not have asked the court to "be hard on him".
Goggin broke down after he took the witness box and apologised to the Walsh family for what happened. "I just want to say I'm sorry to the Walsh family, they have been so good to me. They treated me like a son both before and after everything that has happened."
Judge Moran said it was a very tragic case which had devastated the Walsh family but they had forgiven Goggin.
He saw no benefit in jailing him but gave him a two-year suspended sentence and disqualified him from driving for 10 years.
