A retired member of the Garda Special Branch has been jailed for five years for drunk driving causing death and serious injury in two incidents within minutes of each other in 2004.
Frank Hayes (53) failed to stop after his Mercedes car hit his first victims. Two people in another car shouted at him that he had hit two girls but he did not respond. Then he lost control of his car when he broke a red light, crashing into an oncoming car and causing the death of Gordon Geary.
Hayes, who was also disqualified from driving for 15 years by Judge Desmond Hogan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, had more than twice the legal limit for alcohol intake.
Hayes, of Glengara Park, Dún Laoghaire, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of Mr Geary (71) and causing serious bodily harm to his wife, Joy Geary, at Enniskerry Road, Stepaside, on July 24th, 2004.
He also admitted dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm at Blackglen Road to Natalie Woods and Edel Halligan, to failing to stop at the scene there and to driving while drunk.
Judge Hogan sentenced Hayes to five years for dangerous driving causing the death of Mr Geary and a further three years to run concurrently for dangerous driving causing serious harm to Ms Geary, Ms Woods and Ms Halligan.
Ms Woods, who was 17 at the time, had part of her skull and brain removed at Beaumont Hospital because of brain swelling.
She told Judge Hogan on December 7th she now felt like she had "two different faces and was two different people", and felt "raw inside like a chewed bone". She suffered from depression, headaches, stress, confusionand short-term memory loss.
Ms Woods said after she came out of a coma she had to relearn all the basic daily skills, but also suffered from psychological trauma. "It is an uphill struggle to keep my spirits up every day."
The court heard Hayes had no recollection of the incident. He admitted having drank wine at dinner in Stackstown Golf Club where he had played golf. His alcohol intake was 84mg of alcohol for 100ml of breath, more than twice the legal limit.
He had been working as a taxi driver at the time having retired after 30 years as a garda. The majority of his career was spent in the Special Detective Unit.
The court heard that Ms Woods and Ms Halligan were standing at a point where there were no footpaths and the road narrowed when the car driven by Hayes hit them.
Witnesses saw Hayes driving away and followed him. At a red light they shouted to him that he had hit two girls and should go back. Hayes did not respond but broke the red light and on turning right drove at speed towards Stepaside village. He then lost control of his car, hit a wall and veered across the road straight into the path of the Gearys' vehicle.