8 years for manslaughter of garda

Sunnyisland

http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0721/mcloughling.html



A 25 year old Donegal man has been sentenced to eight years in prison, with the last year suspended, for the manslaughter of a Garda in December 2009.
Martin McDermott was today found guilty of the manslaughter of Garda Gary McLoughlin after he drove into the officer's patrol car at high speed.
Mr McDermott, 25, of Castlegrove, Raphoe, Co Donegal, was also found guilty of recklessly endangering the life of Garda Bernard McLoughlin in the same crash.
He was sentenced to five years for endangering the life of Garda Bernard McLoughlin and five years for dangerous driving causing death.
He also received six months sentences for each of the charges of drink driving, driving with no insurance and driving while disqualified.
All sentences will run concurrently while Mr McDermott has also been disqualified from driving for 20 years.
During sentencing the court heard that Mr McDermott had 91 previous convictions including dangerous driving and drink driving. There were two bench warrants out for his arrest at the time that he crashed into Garda McLoughlin's patrol car.

The jury had heard how on 13 December 2009 detectives in an unmarked car at Bridgend in Donegal noticed something unusual at a petrol station.
Mr McDermott left the petrol station in a red Opel Astra and travelled towards Letterkenny at speeds up to 180km/h. The Garda car followed with its lights flashing.
Mr McDermott then turned his car around and was driving towards Derry, where he was living at the time, when he hit a marked Garda car being driven by Garda McLoughlin.
Garda McLoughlin, 24, from Fenagh in Leitrim, died the next day in hospital.


IMO this is mad justice,This chap was a repeat offender with bench warrants out for him and at the time already banned from driving and he gets 8 years,with one suspended plus all the rest of the sentenced ran concurrent, the social welfare fraudster gets 12 years for swindling 250,000 euro and no one was hurt, As I said bit mad to me.

Cill Dara Abu

Meh

Mr. Denton

Driving while disqualified and uninsured. **** him. I'd let him rot in prison if I could.

JimiWonderDoor 92

Should be castrated,

Instead he'll be out in a few years and the state will pay for him and his most likely degenerate spawn to continue as such.

Poor Family of that man (the Garda)

CardBordWindow

The Irish legal system has been a shambles for a long time. This is nothing new.
A guy swindles 250,000 over 12 years gets jailed, but the bankers who swiped MILLIONS get away with it?

CreepingDeath

JimiWonderDoor 92 wrote: »

Should be castrated

That's not how people drive.

cosmicfart

The 'Showers' one feels wont be kind to him.

Stercus Accidit

On what planet is concurrent sentencing considered a good idea?

GaryMunster

what a joke!

Mr. Denton

Stercus Accidit wrote: »

On what planet is concurrent sentencing considered a good idea?

Isn't that where Star Wars is set?

johnmike

Disgraceful

easyeason3

The family of Gary McLoughlin must still be devasted by his tragic death. But the ridiculous sentence handed down must be like a fresh kick in the face.

When exactly are people going to realise that a car is not a toy regardless of how many spoilers or stickers or money you spend on it?
A car is a dangerous weapon if put in the wrong hands.

Fcuking justice system is a joke.

JimiWonderDoor 92

CreepingDeath wrote: »

That's not how people drive.

Speak for yourself!

Dangerous Man

Thing is though - in Alan Shatter we have one of the most qualified and intelligent minster's for justice in years. I'm feeling optimistic; it's been a good couple of days for Ireland. Inda demonstrated some balls by giving the Vatican the middle finger and our bailout rate has been reduced significantly without any cave in to the French.

Maybe Shatter will take a look at the judiciary and see what can be done to reverse this trend of crazy sentencing.

Cill Dara Abu

cosmicfart wrote: »

The 'Showers' one feels wont be kind to him.

I'm thinking it will be the opposite he killed a Guard therefore he will be a hero in prison.

TheZohanS

8 years with one suspended means he'll spend a maximum of 5 years in prison, complete joke.

blogga

Time for net outrage at this stuff is long past. If you are sickened by this news phone your TDs tomorrow. Make them change the law. It's why they are TDs. The bleeding heart approach to issues like this has brought us to this sorry state.

sparks24

cosmicfart wrote: »

The 'Showers' one feels wont be kind to him.

you watch to much tv, its only america where life means life they ride the arse off each other

ilovesleep

CardBordWindow wrote: »

The Irish legal system has been a shambles for a long time. This is nothing new.
A guy swindles 250,000 over 12 years gets jailed, but the bankers who swiped MILLIONS get away with it?

And we as a society are the very ones to be blamed for this because we are not out on the streets protesting and demanding for change.

cosmicfart

Cill Dara Abu wrote: »

I'm thinking it will be the opposite he killed a Guard therefore he will be a hero in prison.

Id rather be a nothing working in McDonalds than being a hero in them showers TBH!

mickydoomsux

91 previous convictions?

We need a three strikes rule to stop this kind of thing from happening. Pretty much every murder/manslaughter case has people with priors in the double figures.

Rehabilitation doesn't work, build more prisons and lock these animals away sooner rather than later and maybe decent people won't have to bury family members while scum like this will be back on the street within 5 years.

HavingCrack

mickydoomsux wrote: »

91 previous convictions?

We need a three strikes rule to stop this kind of thing from happening. Pretty much every murder/manslaughter case has people with priors in the double figures.

Rehabilitation doesn't work, build more prisons and lock these animals away sooner rather than later and maybe decent people won't have to bury family members while scum like this will be back on the street within 5 years.

The three strikes rule doesn't work either, California is a case in point, crime rates actually increased there after the law was imposed.

Rehabilitation does in fact work but not as currently used in Ireland. In the US the state with the harshest prison sentences and most pro-punishment approach (Texas) had a recivism rate of 70% while Utah (most emphasis on rehabilitation) has a rate of around 30%. I'd know which I'd prefer.

7sr2z3fely84g5

Agreed,this zero tolerance/three strikes rule doesn't work,usa system is tough ,people have become "criminals" for the smallest things,but yet it has more people in prison than the worlds prison population,and this hundred years sentencing has turned some prisons into retirement homes,i don't think anyone would care for the death penalty for general nuisance 100+ convictions criminals.

Mr. Denton

sparks24 wrote: »

you watch to much tv, its only america where life means life they ride the arse off each other

I'm sure the fella in the photo wearing the lipstick and drawn-on-tits in between known queers Dessie and John Dundon will be delighted to know that.
http://www.sundayworld.com/columnists/sw-irish-crime.php?aid=5060

Run_to_da_hills

Why can't they bring in hard labour for these cnuts so that he can pay their keep and put some input into the state,

steddyeddy

Only 8 years for robbing a man of his future and his family of a man they loved and 12 for dole fiddling. Words fail me.

hmmm

I hate words like "manslaughter", they are so anodyne. The life of a human being was ended - his entire existence is over, he only gets 24 years to experience life. It could have happened to anyone on that road that night if they were unlucky enough to meet this guy.

And that's only worth the 5 or so years he'll serve?

ShamoBuc

Complete joke!

Tigger

steddyeddy wrote: »

Only 8 for robbing a man of his future and his family of a man they loved and 12 for dole fiddling. Words fail me.

this a hundred times

UnitedIrishman

Devastating for that family - much like it was for family of Garda McCallion a couple of years ago who was killed in pretty much the same circumstances.

I really can't understand how Gardaí aren't protected further by the legal system (a system I have long since given up on given the way my own town is run). Instead of being viewed as a manslaughter to a Garda, it has to be looked on as a civilian of the state. Bull. These people are putting themselves in the way of danger in order to protect us.

Maybe it's because my own father was a Garda but I know that if that was my father that was killed on duty and the sentence was 8 measly years, how I'd react and what I'd want to do to the perpetrator - and where does that get us? Nowhere.

Whatever about the health system in this country, it's about time the legal system was overhauled too. Ridiculous.

randylonghorn

Very low sentence, tbh.

Wolfe Tone

mickydoomsux wrote: »

91 previous convictions?

We need a three strikes rule to stop this kind of thing from happening. Pretty much every murder/manslaughter case has people with priors in the double figures.

Rehabilitation doesn't work, build more prisons and lock these animals away sooner rather than later and maybe decent people won't have to bury family members while scum like this will be back on the street within 5 years.

Three strikes rules are not the answer. They are a disgrace.

The Internet Explorer

Silly silly Ireland. Who's a silly country ? You are ! Yes you are ! Yes you are ! Silly country. Who's a silly country ? Yes you are !!

Son Of A Vidic

Cill Dara Abu wrote: »

Meh

One word for that................................pathetic.

Tehachapi

I know now if I ever want to commit pre-meditated murder, I just have to hop into my car and find the person out walking. Smash into them (maybe while drunk to make it more believable) and get off with a nice 7-year manslaughter charge. Good oul Ireland.

mickydoomsux

Wolfe Tone wrote: »

Three strikes rules are not the answer. They are a disgrace.

Well i guess what we're doing now is fine so :rolleyes:

Let 'em rack up the convictions until they kill someone, give them an embarrassingly pathetic sentence and then wonder why our society is in the ****ter.

Wolfe Tone

mickydoomsux wrote: »

Well i guess what we're doing now is fine so :rolleyes:

Let 'em rack up the convictions until they kill someone, give them an embarrassingly pathetic sentence and then wonder why our society is in the ****ter.

I never said what we have now is fine did I?

steddyeddy

mickydoomsux wrote: »

Well i guess what we're doing now is fine so :rolleyes:

Let 'em rack up the convictions until they kill someone, give them an embarrassingly pathetic sentence and then wonder why our society is in the ****ter.

Lived in america man theres people in jail for stealing cookies because of that rule it is a disgrace.

x in the city

realies wrote: »

http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0721/mcloughling.html



A 25 year old Donegal man has been sentenced to eight years in prison, with the last year suspended, for the manslaughter of a Garda in December 2009.
Martin McDermott was today found guilty of the manslaughter of Garda Gary McLoughlin after he drove into the officer's patrol car at high speed.
Mr McDermott, 25, of Castlegrove, Raphoe, Co Donegal, was also found guilty of recklessly endangering the life of Garda Bernard McLoughlin in the same crash.
He was sentenced to five years for endangering the life of Garda Bernard McLoughlin and five years for dangerous driving causing death.
He also received six months sentences for each of the charges of drink driving, driving with no insurance and driving while disqualified.
All sentences will run concurrently while Mr McDermott has also been disqualified from driving for 20 years.
During sentencing the court heard that Mr McDermott had 91 previous convictions including dangerous driving and drink driving. There were two bench warrants out for his arrest at the time that he crashed into Garda McLoughlin's patrol car.

The jury had heard how on 13 December 2009 detectives in an unmarked car at Bridgend in Donegal noticed something unusual at a petrol station.
Mr McDermott left the petrol station in a red Opel Astra and travelled towards Letterkenny at speeds up to 180km/h. The Garda car followed with its lights flashing.
Mr McDermott then turned his car around and was driving towards Derry, where he was living at the time, when he hit a marked Garda car being driven by Garda McLoughlin.
Garda McLoughlin, 24, from Fenagh in Leitrim, died the next day in hospital.


IMO this is mad justice,This chap was a repeat offender with bench warrants out for him and at the time already banned from driving and he gets 8 years,with one suspended plus all the rest of the sentenced ran concurrent, the social welfare fraudster gets 12 years for swindling 250,000 euro and no one was hurt, As I said bit mad to me.

Ireland is a joke of a place. for jobs, justice and pretty much anything else.

randylonghorn

mickydoomsux wrote: »

Well i guess what we're doing now is fine so :rolleyes:

Let 'em rack up the convictions until they kill someone, give them an embarrassingly pathetic sentence and then wonder why our society is in the ****ter.

I don't think that's what's being said at all.

We're (supposedly) intelligent human beings, surely we can come up with better systems than a rigid mathematical formula?

It's worth noting that the "three strikes rule" is strongly opposed by many judges in the areas where it applies.

This case says our system isn't working. I think lots of people are agreeing on that.

The jump to a simplistic three strikes rule is neither a logically necessary one nor one for which there would be the same support.

Capt'n Midnight

Stercus Accidit wrote: »

On what planet is concurrent sentencing considered a good idea?

Never understood this

Doesn't it createsa "Might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb" attitude ?

If you reckon you think you are going to get caught then you might as well keep going since the punishment isn't going to be any worse. This also applies to the bankers , we should do like many other countries do where the sentence can be longer for larger amounts. How many people will die because of health cuts ? Locking up some of the politicians / bankers / traders / developers might have saved lives.


And I think any crimes commited whilst on bail must not be concurrent.

charlemont

The poor man was only doing his job so my sympathies to his family, that guy has a huge amount of convictions so 8 Years is way too little, He knew what he was doing when he was driving at that speed so I think the sentence is way too lenient, people get longer sentences for dealing in hash, Yet in this case a man who's job is to protect people gets killed in the course of other offences being committed, Way too lenient, Id love to see what all his previous are..

steddyeddy

charlemont wrote: »

The poor man was only doing his job so my sympathies to his family, that guy has a huge amount of convictions so 8 Years is way too little, He knew what he was doing when he was driving at that speed so I think the sentence is way too lenient, people get longer sentences for dealing in hash, Yet in this case a man who's job is to protect people gets killed in the course of other offences being committed, Way too lenient, Id love to see what all his previous are..

He only got 8 years for this jurys in ireland dont convict easily so im sure their significant.

Tehachapi

steddyeddy wrote: »

Lived in america man theres people in jail for stealing cookies because of that rule it is a disgrace.

Well don't commit theft when you have 2 priors then.

I have never broken the law, and probably never will. However if I had a criminal conviction already - I'd be insanely careful not to even get a second with that rule in place. With two already I'd be watching my behaviour like a hawk, for fear of getting locked up on another conviction. You'd wanna be a serious gobsh1te to commit a third criminal offence with two behind you.

All criminal acts have victims, what the hell gives anyone the right to commit 3 criminal acts? Would you like to be walking on the same street as johnny scumbag with 152 previous convictions? Would you support the 3 strikes rule if he seriously assaulted you, caused brain damage to a member of your family or even killed them in the case of manuel riedo? The swiss people were shocked at why this prick wasn't locked up at the time of her murder.

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/evil-predator-showed-no-remorse-for-terror-reign-1841361.html

He was just 16 when he got involved in a violent attack that ended in the brutal death of an innocent young man on a stag night in Galway.

He went on to attack an elderly man in his home, resulting in him being completed blinded. He was sentenced to two years in jail for that.

Barry was convicted of sexual assault for which he received an 18-month sentence. When he got out, he continued to pursue her. Late on August 16, 2007, he called to her home. There was a fight and a struggle and he assaulted her.

Two days later, on August 18, Barry was charged with assaulting his ex-girlfriend. Gardai, aware of her fear of him, asked the judge to keep him in custody. And although they had no evidence, he was now a key in a serious rape allegation. The judge granted Barry bail. Seven weeks later, he killed Manuela Riedo, a Swiss student who was only in Galway three days.

It's thinking like yours that allows people like him to still walk the streets with a criminal history like that.

steddyeddy

Tehachapi wrote: »

Well don't commit theft when you have 2 priors then.

I have never broken the law, and probably never will. However if I had a criminal conviction already - I'd be insanely careful not to even get a second with that rule in place. With two already I'd be watching my behaviour like a hawk, for fear of getting locked up on another conviction. You'd wanna be a serious gobsh1te to commit a third criminal offence with two behind you.

All criminal acts have victims, what the hell gives anyone the right to commit 3 criminal acts? Would you like to be walking on the same street as johnny scumbag with 152 previous convictions? Would you support the 3 strikes rule if he seriously assaulted you, caused brain damage to a member of your family or even killed them in the case of manuel riedo? The swiss people were shocked at why this prick wasn't locked up at the time of her murder.

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/evil-predator-showed-no-remorse-for-terror-reign-1841361.html









It's thinking like yours that allows people like him to still walk the streets with a criminal history like that.

So you agree life in prison for stealing cookies is ok?

Zebra3

The "three strikes rule" crap is generally supported by tabloid reading, uneducated idiots and right wing extemists.

Enough said.

charlemont

Tehachapi wrote: »

It's thinking like yours that allows people like him to still walk the streets with a criminal history like that.

These are serious offences in which he should have been remanded in custody till trial..
Stealing biscuits doesn't even come close to the seriousness of the crimes committed by that scumbag.

randylonghorn

Tehachapi wrote: »

It's thinking like yours that allows people like him to still walk the streets with a criminal history like that.

Ofc Barry should have been locked up for a long time long before that. He certainly should never have been released on bail.

But it doesn't need a simplistic "three strikes rule" to achieve that. It needs better sentencing.

And space in prisons for the likes of Barry to be incarcerated for a very long time.

Which won't be achieved by over-populating the prisons with far less serious criminals imprisoned under the three strike rule.

Capt'n Midnight

91 previous convictions at age 25

Is this from age 12 or 18 ? that's between 7 and 13 a year or one conviction every four to 7.5 weeks depending on when the convictions are recorded from.

The state had 90 chances of rehabiliting this person.

This person had 90 chances of going straight.



How many people were affected by this person in the past ?

While the three strikes rule is Draconian, society has a right to be protected.


What is the rivicisism rate amongst habitual criminals ?
How would you work out the optimum sentence for those who don't reform such that their rights to freedom are balanced with the rights of society to have freedom from them ?

steddyeddy

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

91 previous convictions at age 25

Is this from age 12 or 18 ? that's between 7 and 13 a year or one conviction every four to 7.5 weeks depending on when the convictions are recorded from.

The state had 90 chances of rehabiliting this person.

This person had 90 chances of going straight.



How many people were affected by this person in the past ?

While the three strikes rule is Draconian, society has a right to be protected.


What is the rivicisism rate amongst habitual criminals ?
How would you work out the optimum sentence for those who don't reform such that their rights to freedom are balanced with the rights of society to have freedom from them ?

+ 1 (at least)

He had options of rehab but his victims may have to endure a lifetime of therapy because of his actions.

Wolfe Tone

randylonghorn wrote: »

Ofc Barry should have been locked up for a long time long before that. He certainly should never have been released on bail.

But it doesn't need a simplistic "three strikes rule" to achieve that. It needs better sentencing.

And space in prisons for the likes of Barry to be incarcerated for a very long time.

Which won't be achieved by over-populating the prisons with far less serious criminals imprisoned under the three strike rule.

It needs better rehabilitative prisons too.

A small jail term for a young man i like sending him to a university of crime, jail makes them career criminals, that has to change.