8 years for manslaughter of garda

Sunnyisland · 21-07-2011 09:51PM #1

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 · 21-07-2011 09:52PM

Meh

Mr. Denton · 21-07-2011 09:55PM

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

JimiWonderDoor 92 · 21-07-2011 09:57PM

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 · 21-07-2011 09:57PM

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 · 21-07-2011 09:57PM

JimiWonderDoor 92 wrote: »

Should be castrated

That's not how people drive.

cosmicfart · 21-07-2011 09:58PM

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

Stercus Accidit · 21-07-2011 09:59PM

On what planet is concurrent sentencing considered a good idea?

GaryMunster · 21-07-2011 10:01PM

what a joke!

Mr. Denton · 21-07-2011 10:01PM

Stercus Accidit wrote: »

On what planet is concurrent sentencing considered a good idea?

Isn't that where Star Wars is set?

johnmike · 21-07-2011 10:02PM

Disgraceful

easyeason3 · 21-07-2011 10:03PM

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 · 21-07-2011 10:05PM

CreepingDeath wrote: »

That's not how people drive.

Speak for yourself!

Dangerous Man · 21-07-2011 10:07PM

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 · 21-07-2011 10:09PM

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 · 21-07-2011 10:10PM

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

blogga · 21-07-2011 10:11PM

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 · 21-07-2011 10:14PM

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 · 21-07-2011 10:15PM

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 · 21-07-2011 10:17PM

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 · 21-07-2011 10:17PM

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 · 21-07-2011 10:21PM

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 · 21-07-2011 10:26PM

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 · 21-07-2011 10:38PM

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 · 21-07-2011 10:52PM

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 · 21-07-2011 10:57PM

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 · 21-07-2011 11:05PM

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 · 21-07-2011 11:11PM

Complete joke!

Tigger · 21-07-2011 11:13PM

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 · 21-07-2011 11:24PM

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 · 22-07-2011 12:15AM

Very low sentence, tbh.

8 years for manslaughter of garda

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