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MAGINNESS: ROAD DEATHS SENTENCE INAPPROPRIATE SDLP Justice Spokesperson Alban Maginness said the four-year sentence imposed on a young man responsible for two road deaths near Newry is not appropriate for an offence of such severity. He said: “This is an absolutely horrific case and it would be an abuse of language to refer to what happened as any kind of accident. The conduct of the defendant was such that serious injury or death was a near certainty, and in my view the sentence should have reflected this. “The evidence is clear that this young man, too young to hold a licence, bought a ‘run-around’ just a couple of hours earlier, drank a considerable amount of alcohol and drove recklessly at high speeds on the wrong side of the road. “Under
such circumstances a car is a lethal weapon and driving it in
such a fashion is comparable to firing a gun in a crowded street.
Two innocent men going about their business were mown down, others
were seriously injured. We should no more accept such behaviour
than we would the firing of a gun and sentencing should reflect
this if it is to be a useful deterrent.” |
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