A 41-year-old man with a lifelong history of epilepsy has been sentenced to seven years in prison with the final three years suspended, and disqualified from driving for 20 years, for causing the deaths of two baby sisters near Tuam two years ago.
Two-year-old Kate Gilmore and her 12-week-old sister Grace Gilmore were out for a stroll with their father John, and were both asleep at 12.35pm when their twin buggy was hit head-on by a Toyota Avensis car which had veered into the hard shoulder on the N17, near Tuam, on October 21st, 2012.
Victim impact statements from parents John and Michelle Gilmore were read by Mr McGrath to a hushed courtroom. In his statement, John Gilmore said four people died that day but only two corpses were buried. He said he and his wife would have to carry the pain of their loss with them for the rest of their lives.
“We had two children to put to bed on the Saturday night and had two corpses the next day,” he said.
John O’Connor, Waterslade Downs,Tuam, pleaded guilty at Galway Circuit Criminal court to a single charge of dangerous driving at the Demesne, Tuam, on October 21st, which caused the deaths of Kate and Grace Gilmore.
Supt Gearoid Begley said the accused told gardaí during interview that he had been given medical advice not to drive in June 2012.
He told them he had suffered from epileptic seizures all his life and had brain surgery at Beaumont Hospital in 2004 to alleviate the condition. He had remained seizure-free for six or seven years and was driving during that time. Then, in February 2012, the seizures began again. He had seizures in March, April and in June, by which time he was told by his doctors not to drive until he was seizure-free for at least a year.
Judge Rory McCabe offered his sympathies to the Gilmore family and said it was of particular credit to them that their statements did not contain a word of censure or bitterness towards the accused.
He said everyone accepted the accused had not set out that day to hurt anyone but his actions had devastated the entire Gilmore family.
He imposed a seven-year sentence, with the final three years suspended, given the plea, the remorse shown by the accused and his medical condition, and he disqualified him from driving for 20 years.