Firefighter drank up to 15 pints before knocking down 27-year-old

captain caveman

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/circuit-court/firefighter-drank-up-to-15-pints-before-knocking-down-27-year-old-1.4107186?mode=amp

I read this story in The Irish Times earlier... surely this sentence is too lenient for a firefighter and first aider who knows how crucial early help can be? And to have “no recollection” either and let the family suffer further for 2 years! He should never be allowed back into the services.

He’s a disgrace imo.

captain caveman

I know horrible things happen every day, but to be someone who’s probably been at countless roadside incidents to not think better.. a thundering disgrace. From reading comments on another source, it seems he was in his family’s pub drinking. What sort of people let him in the car in that state too?

anewme

Didn't even have the grace to plead guilty until the first day of the trial.

He put that poor family through hell.

Lowlife cowardly scumbag.

Kerplunk124

Judge Martin Nolan, shocker

Thelonious Monk

It's funny how nonchalant people are about cars killing people. In the last few weeks there have been a few deaths on the roads, I remember one 18 year old pedestrian was killed by a car and you get 2 comments on the Journal saying RIP. Another woman was kill on the roads and people started going on about pedestrians wearing high vis. If there's ever an article about cyclists you'll get 1000s of comments saying how dangerous they are.
I guess we just accept people being killed in cars and by cars, part of it is brainwashing by car companies and road authorities I think.

paw patrol

Kerplunk124 wrote: »

Judge Martin Nolan, shocker

the max sentence is 10 years , he only had 1 minor conviction.
he is a scumbag for sure but the judge wasn't really that lenient.

I'd prefer he faced a manslaughter charge but the charge was death by dangerous driving and the judge could only sentence accordingly.

Don Joe

paw patrol wrote: »

the max sentence is 10 years , he only had 1 minor conviction.
he is a scumbag for sure but the judge wasn't really that lenient.

I'd prefer he faced a manslaughter charge but the charge was death by dangerous driving and the judge could only sentence accordingly.

While infuriating at times, the judges hands are often tied when it comes to sentencing, yet you'll have people moan. He can't pluck a figure from the sky and say hmm.. 12 years.

jjpep

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

It's funny how nonchalant people are about cars killing people. In the last few weeks there have been a few deaths on the roads, I remember one 18 year old pedestrian was killed by a car and you get 2 comments on the Journal saying RIP. Another woman was kill on the roads and people started going on about pedestrians wearing high vis. If there's ever an article about cyclists you'll get 1000s of comments saying how dangerous they are.
I guess we just accept people being killed in cars and by cars, part of it is brainwashing by car companies and road authorities I think.

This.

If you ever wanted to murder someone in Ireland, just drive over them in a car. If you get caught, chances are you won't even spend a day in jail.

freshpopcorn

I'm often suprised when you hear people say that if you work first hand dealing with fatal and serious crashes you'd never speed, drink and drive, etc and that people actually believe this.
I know people in the emergency services over the years and drink driving was common enough.

Berserker5

freshpopcorn wrote: »

I'm often suprised when you hear people say that if you work first hand dealing with fatal and serious crashes you'd never speed, drink and drive, etc and that people actually believe this.
I know people in the emergency services over the years and drink driving was common enough.

Dunno who says that tbh

DD would have been very common with doctors and gardai

seamus

freshpopcorn wrote: »

I'm often suprised when you hear people say that if you work first hand dealing with fatal and serious crashes you'd never speed, drink and drive, etc and that people actually believe this.
I know people in the emergency services over the years and drink driving was common enough.

Gardai in particular because for a long time a quick flash of the badge would be enough even if you were scuttered.

It's an overconfidence effect - the belief that because you know the risks better than anyone, you're less likely to fall foul of them.

In this case I'd accept the firefighter's explanation that he remembers nothing, in which case the fact that he didn't get help, makes sense. But it's a textbook example of why you just don't drink if you're driving.
"I'll just have two", leads to "one more will be alright", leads to, "Fnck it, I'll leave the car here and get it tomorrow". Drunk you forgets that last bit though and tries to drive home.

chooseusername

It's a shame this lad wasn't about!

tdf7187

In general culturally we are far less tolerant of drink driving. Remember as recently as twenty years ago the case where a judge got in trouble for trying to get a drink-driving architect off. Doubt if he would have agreed to pull something similar for a builder.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Sheedy_Affair

jon1981

Why won't they name the pub in the media? From a quick google it's obvious which pub it was.

Samuel T. Cogley

chooseusername wrote: »

It's a shame this lad wasn't about!

Choosemomentbetter

poisonated

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

It's funny how nonchalant people are about cars killing people. In the last few weeks there have been a few deaths on the roads, I remember one 18 year old pedestrian was killed by a car and you get 2 comments on the Journal saying RIP. Another woman was kill on the roads and people started going on about pedestrians wearing high vis. If there's ever an article about cyclists you'll get 1000s of comments saying how dangerous they are.
I guess we just accept people being killed in cars and by cars, part of it is brainwashing by car companies and road authorities I think.

To be fair, I wouldn’t have the same sympathy for cyclists going around breaking the law to those oneyibg the law.

Del2005

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

It's funny how nonchalant people are about cars killing people. In the last few weeks there have been a few deaths on the roads, I remember one 18 year old pedestrian was killed by a car and you get 2 comments on the Journal saying RIP. Another woman was kill on the roads and people started going on about pedestrians wearing high vis. If there's ever an article about cyclists you'll get 1000s of comments saying how dangerous they are.
I guess we just accept people being killed in cars and by cars, part of it is brainwashing by car companies and road authorities I think.

Or maybe people realise that the benefits of driving outway the looses, people also get killed by buses and trains so there's no alternative. Human error is the cause of the vast majority of aircraft crashes but people won't fly in a plane without a pilot!

jjpep

poisonated wrote: »

To be fair, I wouldn’t have the same sympathy for cyclists going around breaking the law to those oneyibg the law.

So if someone breaks a traffic law then you reckon death or maiming is ok??

Does apply only to people on bikes or also to people driving cars or people walking?

Thelonious Monk

poisonated wrote: »

To be fair, I wouldn’t have the same sympathy for cyclists going around breaking the law to those oneyibg the law.

Fair enough but they're harmless at the end of the day.

https://www.thejournal.ie/pedestrian-killed-in-collision-4923015-Dec2019/

Here's another from Saturday,3 comments! Now for all we know the man ran in front of the car but for such a horrible violent death people just dont seem to give a sh*t.