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Donegal man jailed for two years for crash that killed eight

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Comments

  • #32
    RDM_83 again
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,116 ✭✭✭RDM_83 again


    anncoates wrote: »
    Can't help thinking some of the leeway afforded to the guy here is linked to our dysfunctional relationship with driving. Where spending limits are viewed by some as an intrusion and shouldn't apply to those that can "handle it" and those who crash "can't handle it".

    Its Donegal there is a reason its notorious for accidents, the old lads drive home pissed the young guys might be sober but they drive like maniacs, I know the stretch of road where this happened (I think) and it should be very safe even at fairly high speeds.
    Feel sorry all the victims, I've been in the back of an over crowded speeding car heading back from the pub in rural Donegal it was only the next day when sober that myself and another one of the lads realized quite how dangerous the driving was, you don't asses risky behavior properly when you have been drinking which is one of the reasons you don't drink and drive, when your the driver though its your job to be aware of these things. Obviously there is an element of personal responsibility when you've been drinking but you do tend to expect a sober driver to be at least moderately sensible.


  • #33
    mailforkev
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,845 ✭✭✭mailforkev


    A couple of people here have commented that there are no winners in this situation. I would strongly disagree.

    The winners here are the rest of us having this dickhead off the roads.

    For two years at least (I wouldn't put money on him respecting the ten year ban). Only problem is that it's not for life.


  • #34
    Highflyer13
    Closed Accounts Posts: 954 ✭✭✭Highflyer13


    suicide_circus wrote: »
    How many people do you have to kill through dangerous driving before you're put off the road for life?

    2 years in prison for causing the death of 8 people is just mind blowing.

    He also killed someone indirectly. One of the dead lads father killed himself 3 years to the day of the crash out of despair. So many lives have been ruined by his actions, so many broken hearts and this moron goes out on the roads again does some more dangerous driving. To me that shows that he has not reflected on his actions and has learned nothing. Also how the fook was he allowed back on the road?


  • #35
    The Backwards Man
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,299 ✭✭✭✭The Backwards Man


    FactCheck wrote: »
    In addition to the eight dead victims, people should also spare a thought for Mrs McGilloway, who only narrowly avoided becoming a ninth victim, had her car destroyed, and had to endure four years of his legal defence trying to blame her for the whole incident, claiming (completely without basis) that she had been on the wrong side of the road.



    Just for the sake of clarity, any talk of "convictions" in relation to that incident is irrelevant; he accepted a caution.

    Yeah, a caution. You don't get a caution for dangerous driving, you get a caution when it can't be proven.

    It must be great to live in the simple Utopian black and white world some of you people live in, where there is only right and wrong and nothing in between.
    All this thread proves is the same old story. You don't want justice, any of you, you want blood. Ask any of the victims' families today if justice was done, I'll think you'll find they'll accept that it has.


  • #36
    fryup
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,067 ✭✭✭✭fryup


    what baffles me is the fact he get banned from driving for 10 years????

    :confused: i mean ffs the guy "claims" to be brain damaged since the crash so surely he should be banned for life

    is that judge a bit thick?


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  • #37
    AudreyHepburn
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,673 ✭✭✭AudreyHepburn


    A very sad situation for all, no winners here.

    On the one hand I'm glad this foolish and dangerous driver is off the road, and he did take eight lives that day so he deserves some punishment.

    Having said that there's nothing to be gained by acting as though this young man is the only person every to have sped and drove recklessly on our roads. I see people doing it everyday. But for the grace of god any one of them could be where this young man is.

    Speed limits are there for a reason folks, if you can't or won't abide by them get off the road.


  • #38
    Venus In Furs
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,028 ✭✭✭Venus In Furs


    anncoates wrote: »
    but these pointing the fingers does nobody any good type posts, well, fcuk that.
    The posts in question are annoying and very dishonest.
    It's like they're trying to be "the bigger person" than the rest of us kneejerk plebs who have a problem with someone speeding with seven passengers and a previous dangerous driving conviction - and who got done again for exceeding the speed limit after.
    Even a post saying lots of us aren't angels behind the wheel, as if countless people show the same kind of utter contempt for safe driving that this guy has shown.

    What's with the downplaying of what he did I wonder? Others who are fans of speeding, are from the area etc I guess.

    RDM_83 again, I heard (albeit on some crap talk show) that it happened on a notoriously dangerous stretch of road.

    When I first heard the main gist of the story I did feel a good bit more sorry for the guy, but the more details emerge, the more my sympathy diminishes - and I'm pretty easily duped into having sympathy for people at times!
    Of course he's destroyed by guilt - anyone would be. Because of the consequences though, not because he drove maniacally.


  • #39
    Rubberchikken
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,303 ✭✭✭Rubberchikken


    the thing that i find so strangeis how someone who has driven carelessly, been stupid enough to drive an overloaded car, been found guilt of causing the deaths of the passengers and another driver can get into another vehicle and still drive in a careless/reckless way.

    i personally, do not think i could sit behind the wheel ever again in his position.

    in these circumstances, his licence should be removed for life. something tells me that while he's sorry it happened, he really may not have learned anything from it.

    and i agree no one forced the others to get into the car. out of all of them, did not one of them have the cop on to see how dangerous and illegal it was?


  • #40
    ChippingSodbury
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,396 ✭✭✭ChippingSodbury


    bucketybuck wrote: »
    I don't have any driving convictions, I have never lied to the guards, I don't drink and drive, and I would never pile 7 people into a car and then kill them by driving irresponsibly.

    Don't you fucking dare equate me to that murderer.

    I'm terribly sorry for suggesting that you are anything other than someone who has never done anything wrong while driving.

    The point is that it's not about being caught/ convicted/ causing a collision, it's about carrying out the dangerous action. Suppose his car had missed the unfortunate Mr. Friel and just ended up in a field and everyone was OK. Would he then face a custodial sentence? No, he wouldn't and other than receiving a (possible) bollicking from his family, there would have been no consequences.

    My car was hit by a trailer that became detatched from a van travelling in the opposite direction. It took the side off my car: if it have come across the road another foot or two, it would have killed me without doubt. Because I wasn't killed, there were no charges levelled against the van driver even though the trailer hitch had been repaired prior to the accident. It was just luck that he didn't kill me so the consequences were purely material. It's the same for phone usage, speeding etc., the severity of the punishment shouldn't solely depend on the consequences when the consequences are purely down to chance.


  • #41
    irish_goat
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 6,006 Mod ✭✭✭✭irish_goat


    Had a bit of sympathy for him til I heard he'd since been caught speeding a lorry through Buncrana at half 2 in the morning. Whatever about jail sentence, he clearly hasn't learnt how to drive and should be banned for life.


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  • #42
    The Backwards Man
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,299 ✭✭✭✭The Backwards Man


    Venus In Furs wrote: »
    The posts in question are annoying and very dishonest.
    It's like they're trying to be "the bigger person" than the rest of us kneejerk plebs who have a problem with someone speeding with seven passengers and a previous dangerous driving conviction - and who got done again for exceeding the speed limit after.
    Even a post saying lots of us aren't angels behind the wheel, as if countless people show the same kind of utter contempt for safe driving that this guy has shown.

    What's with the downplaying of what he did I wonder? Others who are fans of speeding, are from the area etc I guess.

    RDM_83 again, I heard (albeit on some crap talk show) that it happened on a notoriously dangerous stretch of road.

    When I first heard the main gist of the story I did feel a good bit more sorry for the guy, but the more details emerge, the more my sympathy diminishes - and I'm pretty easily duped into having sympathy for people at times!
    Of course he's destroyed by guilt - anyone would be. Because of the consequences though, not because he drove maniacally.
    Nobody is downplaying what he did.

    Some of us can convey our opinions on the case without the need for bloodlust, faux outrage and an unhealthy desire for vegeneance


  • #43
    Grand Moff Tarkin
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 862 ✭✭✭Grand Moff Tarkin


    How long before this mence claims another few lives on the road?


  • #44
    FactCheck
    Closed Accounts Posts: 397 ✭✭FactCheck


    The Backwards Man wrote: »
    Yeah, a caution. You don't get a caution for dangerous driving, you get a caution when it can't be proven.

    Oh dear. No. Did you read the link I posted?

    A caution is not a quiet word in your ear from the local guard. It is a formal legal process, and to accept one means you accept responsibility for what occurred. You must admit the offence. You must sign paperwork to this effect.

    There is no dispute that he was driving dangerously that night. He accepted a caution to that effect - he has admitted it.


  • #45
    bucketybuck
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,708 ✭✭✭✭bucketybuck


    Grand Moff Tarkin wrote: »
    How long before this mence claims another few lives on the road?

    Ah sure aren't we all likely to pile 7 passengers into a car and then speed down the road, sure it could happen to any of us at any time!

    Apparently.


  • #46
    sReq | uTeK
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,085 ✭✭✭sReq | uTeK


    Disgraceful, if he had learnt his lesson id say yea okay he was just a young idiot who has to now deal with the deaths of 8 people.

    BUT **** ME, speeding again after the incident, he should have been locked up there and then for 10 years, this moron will probably do it again and endanger more lives when he gets out.


  • #47
    18MonthsaSlave
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 571 ✭✭✭18MonthsaSlave


    FactCheck wrote: »
    In addition to the eight dead victims, people should also spare a thought for Mrs McGilloway, who only narrowly avoided becoming a ninth victim, had her car destroyed, and had to endure four years of his legal defence trying to blame her for the whole incident, claiming (completely without basis) that she had been on the wrong side of the road.



    Just for the sake of clarity, any talk of "convictions" in relation to that incident is irrelevant; he accepted a caution.

    I remember 30 years ago when my mother, the mother of a large young family was killed by a young man speeding against friends on public roads on a Saturday evening that his defence tried to blame my mother although he had come over on to her side of the road. A dangerous driving charge was reduced to reckless driving as a prosecution would hav been difficult to get with the lottery that is our legal system and he had his license taken away for 6 months.
    A few years later he was prosecuted for speeding again. He learned little from the accident.

    A small proportion of society are arseholes who bring nothing but pain to those who are unfortunate enough to cross their paths, be they friends or family or just other people going about their business.
    When these people drive dangerously their license should be taken away from them and they should not be allowed driving anything larger than a 50cc moped without fulltime supervision.

    2 years is not enough punishment for the damage done.

    Also, the aftermath; This case dragged out because the insurer would not like the driver to admit liability and not there has been a judgement they will still drag out and try to reduce settlement with family of the victims; that is certainly what happened with our case. The insurers were utter bastards throughout and dragged out the settlement leaving us impoverished without a mother and wage earner there to look after us.


  • #48
    FactCheck
    Closed Accounts Posts: 397 ✭✭FactCheck


    18MonthsaSlave wrote: »
    I remember 30 years ago when my mother, the mother of a large young family was killed by a young man speeding against friends on public roads on a Saturday evening that his defence tried to blame my mother although he had come over on to her side of the road. A dangerous driving charge was reduced to reckless driving as a prosecution would hav been difficult to get with the lottery that is our legal system and he had his license taken away for 6 months.
    A few years later he was prosecuted for speeding again. He learned little from the accident.

    A small proportion of society are arseholes who bring nothing but pain to those who are unfortunate enough to cross their paths, be they friends or family or just other people going about their business.
    When these people drive dangerously their license should be taken away from them and they should not be allowed driving anything larger than a 50cc moped without fulltime supervision.

    2 years is not enough punishment for the damage done.

    Also, the aftermath; This case dragged out because the insurer would not like the driver to admit liability and not there has been a judgement they will still drag out and try to reduce settlement with family of the victims; that is certainly what happened with our case. The insurers were utter bastards throughout and dragged out the settlement leaving us impoverished without a mother and wage earner there to look after us.

    That's awful. I'm so sorry.


  • #49
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 26,920 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    My first thought was, "oh my God, can you imagine being that guy.. effectively becoming a mass-killer in a matter of seconds" until someone mentioned the fact that he was caught for dangerous driving a year later.

    What a horrible bastard. If you had any remorse or any guilt or any feelings whatsoever, would you really be driving a car at all after something like that, let alone driving dangerously and then providing fake details to Gardaí?


  • #50
    blueser
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,894 ✭✭✭✭blueser


    I have a lot of sympathy for the families of the bereaved; I can't imagine what they're living through every day, losing a loved one so needlessly. And I also have sympathy for the driver's family, knowing that their son/brother was responsible for the carnage that happened that night. But for Kelly? I have absolutely no sympathy. That is a ridiculously lenient sentence for the crime he has committed. And, as plenty have already said on here, if he had learned his lesson, it'd still be a tragic situation. But to be caught speeding again since the accident, and to give a false name to the gardai? The bloke is, to use a saying where I come from, a bad 'un. Any guarantees that he won't do it again when he comes out? He obviously hasn't learned from what he did.


  • #51
    unkel
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 61,103 ✭✭✭✭unkel


    The driving culture in some parts of the country, particularly in Donegal, is partly to blame imho. Whole generations of boys over there grow up driving dangerously as a matter of course.

    I'm not sure if the 2 year jail sentence helps anyone and it isn't much of a punishment anyway. A very long suspended sentence would have been better. From Shaun Kelly's behaviour on the road, before and after the crash, he should never be on the road again. And if he was caught, he should serve 10 years in jail.

    "Make no mistake. The days of the internal combustion engine are definitely numbered" - Quentin Willson, 1997



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  • #52
    The Backwards Man
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,299 ✭✭✭✭The Backwards Man


    And now we have the sweeping generalisations to add to the list.


  • #53
    Buona Fortuna
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,507 ✭✭✭Buona Fortuna


    anncoates wrote: »
    In a way I feel a bit sorry for the guy and especially his family having that on him and nobody forced the people into the car, but these pointing the fingers does nobody any good type posts, well, fcuk that.

    This kind of driving is an issue on our roads. And you have a duty of care to your passengers. Plus his previous record. Come on.

    And what about the poor bastard in the other car?

    There's also a bit of a double standard running:

    • Kids bombing around the place and there's a bit "Ah sure, kids will be kids", attitude.
    • When there's an accident its "FFS wouldya take it easy lads."
    • When they kill someone - I feckin told him loads of times, he's got whats coming


  • #54
    RDM_83 again
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,116 ✭✭✭RDM_83 again


    Venus In Furs wrote: »
    RDM_83 again, I heard (albeit on some crap talk show) that it happened on a notoriously dangerous stretch of road.

    I re-googled it and thought it was a road closer to Buncrana, I don't actually no that one.
    It has to be said though, there is accident black spots in Donegal that are actually on safe enough stretches of road apart from the speed people take turns at.


  • #55
    ahnowbrowncow
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,591 ✭✭✭ahnowbrowncow


    FactCheck wrote: »
    In addition to the eight dead victims, people should also spare a thought for Mrs McGilloway, who only narrowly avoided becoming a ninth victim, had her car destroyed, and had to endure four years of his legal defence trying to blame her for the whole incident, claiming (completely without basis) that she had been on the wrong side of the road.



    Just for the sake of clarity, any talk of "convictions" in relation to that incident is irrelevant; he accepted a caution.

    But she was on the wrong side of the road, she overtook the elderly man on a corner because he was driving very slow.

    Unfortunately she didn't get back in in time and the car with 8 came flying around the corner, hit the back of her car and that impact caused them to go straight into the elderly man's car.


  • #56
    suicide_circus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,801 ✭✭✭✭suicide_circus


    The Backwards Man wrote: »
    And now we have the sweeping generalisations to add to the list.

    Wont hear a bad word against a fellow donegal man?


  • #57
    The Backwards Man
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,299 ✭✭✭✭The Backwards Man


    suicide_circus wrote: »
    Wont hear a bad word against a fellow donegal man?

    Hear plenty and I say plenty. :)

    I like to keep it rational and without prejudice though.


  • #58
    unkel
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 61,103 ✭✭✭✭unkel


    ahnowbrowncow wrote: »
    But she was on the wrong side of the road, she overtook the elderly man on a corner because he was driving very slow.

    Unfortunately she didn't get back in in time

    Link to that please?

    From all the reports I have read, she had overtaken the elderly man and was well back on her side of the road when Shaun came across a bend on the wrong side of the road towards her.

    Link1
    Link2
    Link3

    "Make no mistake. The days of the internal combustion engine are definitely numbered" - Quentin Willson, 1997



  • #59
    Thumpette
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,185 ✭✭✭Thumpette


    This thread is like a breath of fresh air and confirms that it's not just me being overly judgemental. I'm from Donegal so I follow the local newspapers and radio on Facebook and pretty much everyone seems to be of the opinion that 'the poor guy has and will suffer enough'

    I think it's complete rubbish. He drove extremely dangerously- I doubt it was for the first time even apart from the other charges and as a direct consequence to that 8 people died. If for nothing else only a sign to other little boy and girl racers that there will be tangible consequences he should have received a longer sentence as well as definitely a lifetime ban. There's a whole culture in Donegal about almost having the right to drive as you want and everyone else protecting that right. I know of a guy who was drink driving the morning after a session and wrapped his car around a lamp post. No- one injured but all that was a bother to people was getting the car moved to make sure he didn't get caught for his own stupidity. Needs a massive cultural shift towards local anger at the people who make Donegal roads so dangerous for all.


  • #60
    Sala
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,494 ✭✭✭Sala


    The families of those boys are very gracious.


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  • #61
    fryup
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,067 ✭✭✭✭fryup


    unkel wrote: »
    The driving culture in some parts of the country, particularly in Donegal, is partly to blame imho. Whole generations of boys over there grow up driving dangerously as a matter of course.
    Thumpette wrote: »

    There's a whole culture in Donegal about almost having the right to drive as you want and everyone else protecting that right.

    what is it about donegal and dangerous driving??

    is it the fact that they're so close to the border that these boyo's think they can act the maggot in another jurisdiction and not be caught?? and vice versa

    or is it some kind of two fingers to authority a legacy of the troubles perhaps??


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