The Court of Criminal Appeal has dismissed an appeal brought by the Director of Public Prosecutions against the leniency of a two- year suspended sentence imposed on a circus owner when a trailer used to transport equipment collided with and caused the deaths of two women outside Galway city in April 2006.
Last December at Galway Circuit Court, Stephen Courtney (35), Earl Street, Longford town, was given a two-year prison sentence, which was suspended, and fined €25,000 by Judge Raymond Groarke after he pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment by allowing the trailer to be attached in a defective manner.
The charge related to a collision involving the runaway trailer which resulted in the deaths of Joan Reilly (55) and her daughter, Siobhán (25), who were killed on the N17 just outside Galway on April 6th, 2006.
The trailer, which had no safety clip fitted to its hitch, became detached from a trailer carrying two elephants, which in turn was being pulled by a circus lorry. After it became detached the trailer collided into the Reillys' car.
The lorry was driven by Francisco Daria (24), a Venezuelan national with addresses in Cherry Wood Park, Dublin, and Sio Saliceto, Italy. He pleaded guilty to two counts of dangerous driving which caused the women's deaths, and was given a three-year suspended sentence and a seven-year driving ban.
At the appeal court yesterday, Mr Justice Joseph Finnegan, Mr Justice John MacMenamin and Mr Justice Roderick Murphy dismissed the DPP's application.
While noting the tragic circumstances of the accident, Mr Justice Finnegan said they could find "no error in principle" with the sentence. Mr Justice Finnegan said all relevant circumstances had been properly taken into account by the trial judge and it could not be seen to be lenient.
In making the application against the leniency of the sentence, Conor Fahy for the DPP said that Mr Courtney as owner of the circus was "in overall control" of the operation.
Mr Fahy said the trailer in the accident had a braking system that worked, unfortunately it was not compatible with the truck that was pulling it. In addition, a safety clip linking the trailer had not been included. If the second trailer's braking system was working properly, it would have stopped within 60 metres, but it travelled 122 metres before colliding with the women's car.