A DRUNK driver who drove into the scene of a road incident that claimed the lives of two emergency workers has been banned from driving for 20 years.
Niall Shannon (21), from Lenamore, Ballylongford, Co Kerry, was convicted of driving with excess alcohol following an incident at Barrigone, Askeaton, Co Limerick, on February 25th, 2007, in which fireman Michael Liston and Garda Brian Kelleher were killed.
The two men suffered multiple injuries after they were struck by Mr Shannon’s Audi car, which drove into the scene of an earlier incident involving an overturned car on the N69 Limerick to Tralee road.
Last December the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) withdrew a charge against Mr Shannon of dangerous driving causing the deaths of the two men after two juries failed to agree on a verdict following lengthy trials in 2008 and 2009.
During those trials Mr Shannon’s defence team argued that warning signs alerting motorists to the earlier incident were inadequate.
The team also argued that the impact had occurred on an acute bend where there was no line of sight, and that the then 19-year-old was not driving above the speed limit.
The jury in the initial trial convicted Mr Shannon of drink driving after hearing he was over 1½ times the legal alcohol limit on the night in question.
Evidence was given he had a reading of 55 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath on the night of the fatal collision, and that the legal limit for driving is 35 micrograms per 100 millilitres of breath.
Garda Brian Kelleher’s widow Marie Kelleher and Michael Liston’s widow Bernadette Liston were among those in court for yesterday’s sentencing hearing.
Before imposing the road ban, Judge Carroll Moran was told that the penalties open to him were six months in jail, a fine of up to €2,500 and a minimum one-year driving disqualification.
Judge Moran said he might have imposed a substantial jail sentence had Mr Shannon been convicted of the substantive charge of dangerous driving, but as there was no conviction on this charge to impose a custodial sentence would be to overturn the jury’s decision.
The judge said to impose any fine of the amount open to him (€2,500) could be seen as putting a value on the lives of the two men, “and that would be offensive”.
However, Judge Moran did feel he could impose a substantial driving disqualification, and he banned Mr Shannon from driving for 20 years and refused leave to appeal the decision.
During the hearing, defence counsel Anthony Sammon SC expressed “grave concerns” that the deaths of the two emergency workers would be taken into account during the sentencing process.
Mr Sammon said the blame for the deaths of the two men could not be laid at the feet of his client in any way because this had never been determined.
He said his client does not accept he was responsible or the primary cause of the deaths of “those two good men”.