A 25-year-old woman was today sentenced to six years in prison for killing a man by crushing him with her car.
Claire Nolan of Sheephill Green, Blanchardstown had pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of father-of-four Michael Duffy (66) on January 26th, 2008.
The court had previously heard how Nolan had consumed cocaine and alcohol and “went mental”, driving her car at Mr Duffy and crushing him against the wall of his son Francis’s house.
She had admitted that she had intended to hit Francis Duffy, who has a mild intellectual difficulty, after hearing he had been seen getting in and out of her car.
Nolan had previously been tried twice for murder and the jury failed to agree on a verdict on both occasions. Last December, the Director of Public Prosecutions accepted her plea of manslaughter.
At the Central Criminal Court this morning, Mr Justice Paul Carney sentenced Nolan to eight years in prison. However, taking into account her guilty plea he suspended the final two years of the sentence.
Mr Justice Carney said he had taken into account the gravity of the offence, its affect on the victims, the fact that Nolan carried out the offence with a motor car, and had been “out of control” on drink and drugs.
He also pointed out that she had fled the scene of the crime and had attempted to destroy evidence by torching the car.
Referring to Nolan’s claim that she has since turned her life around, the judge said it remained to be seen if her resolve could be maintained throughout a lengthy custodial sentence. He also ordered her to keep away from the Duffy family upon her release.
The court had previously heard Nolan, who was 21 at the time, had been attending a gathering with friends in the house next door to Francis Duffy’s on the night of January 26th, 2008.