Community service for careless driving causing the death of his friend
A young man has been sentenced to 240 hours of community service in lieu of 12 months in prison for careless driving, causing the death of one of his friends.
Pete Rogers (21), from Ballinaclieve, Moynalty, Kells, Co Meath, was the driver of a black Volkswagen Passat that was involved in a fatal accident in the early hours of May 14, 2017
The late Cormac Murphy (20) from Mullagh was a back-seat passenger in the car, carrying five others, which crashed at Claddagh Road, Rantavan.
Rogers pleaded guilty to careless driving causing death and the case was heard last week, with sentencing adjourned to today.
Last week, Judge John Aylmer heard that only Rogers and the other front-seat passenger, Edward O’Brien, were found to have been wearing seat-belts. The other four, sitting in the rear of the vehicle - the late Mr Murphy, his first cousin Mark O’Brien, Noel Lynch and Shauna Daly - were not.
Today, Judge Aylmer, passing sentence, said the most culpable factor was the fact Rogers was the driver and his passengers weren't wearing seatbelts.
The judge gave Rogers 18 months in which to complete the community service. He also banned him from driving for eight years.
Judge Aylmer noted that there wasn't sufficient evidence for the DPP to secure a conviction for dangerous driving, hence the amended charge of careless driving causing death.
The mandatory sentence is four years the judge said the offence was on the upper end of the scale.
All involved in the accident were aged between 18 and 22 years and all suffered injuries. Mr Murphy sadly passed away having spent several days in a coma after the crash.
Rogers was represented by Ken Fogarty SC, instructed by Julie O’Brien BL and solicitor Damien Rudden.
Members of both the Murphy and Rogers’ families were present at the hearing of the case last week when Garda Sergeant Barry Crudden gave evidence. Details from witness statements were outlined by prosecution for the State, Monica Lawlor, instructed by solicitor Rory Hayden.
The court was told that the crash occurred at approximately 5.22am on the date in question.
Sgt Cein O’Brien, a trained forensic crash investigator, examined the crash site the following day.
The section of road, which connects Whitegate on the Cavan-Meath border with Mullagh village, exits a sharp bend and is governed by a 60kmph speed limit.
He remarked that the condition of the road was “good” and that Rogers’ vehicle, travelling in the direction of Mullagh, had crossed over onto the wrong side of the road before striking the grass verge, and passed through a fence when it struck a telephone pole. The car continued travelling through the field before finally coming to a halt when entering a 10-foot drain at the opposite end. The distance between the crash verge and the drain was almost 25 metres.
The garda noted in his subsequent report that there was no way of knowing just how fast Rogers was driving prior to the crash. But it was stated that the gear stick in the car was found in the position of fifth gear.
His conclusion was that Rogers had failed to “properly negotiate” the bend, and that there was “no evidence” the defendant had tried to brake to bring the car to a stop at any stage.
The court heard that glare from early morning sun was not a factor and an inspection of the vehicle, post accident, found no mechanical faults.
The evidence of Michael Hogan, who lives near to where the accident occurred, was also given.
He was awake and on his way to work when he heard a loud “thud” outside. He went to investigate and subsequently contacted the emergency services.
Rogers made three “valid attempts” to provide a sample of breath to gardaí but could not do so, complaining of pains to his chest, after which he too was brought to hospital.
Rory Kelly, a paramedic, told gardaí when he attended to Rogers he got a smell of intoxicating liquor but could not be certain whether it was the defendant’s breath or from his clothes.
Paul Sherry, another paramedic, asked Rogers on the way to hospital if he had taken any alcohol or drugs that medics should be informed of, to which he replied “no drugs, but he had been drinking” the court was told.
Evidence was given that Rogers and others involved in the crash had been in the Headfort Hotel’s niteclub the evening before, and were witnessed on CCTV leaving the establishment, having attended the residents’ bar also, at 5:56am.
Rogers’ car was next picked up on CCTV pulling into Whitegate Fuels at 5:02am, some six minutes and 20 seconds later and 10 kilometres away.
Sgt Crudden requested that Gda Price conduct the same journey, which he did, measuring the time it took using a stop-watch. It took Gda Price nine minutes and forty seconds to complete the journey.
Sgt Crudden informed the court how he also later spoke to the other passengers. Each were ask about the nature of Rogers’ driving prior to the accident but none could remember.
He said that Rogers also remembered little from the accident.
The defendant recalls, after the crash, his hands on the steering wheel and blue lights from the attending emergency services, before blacking out again.
In interview with gardaí later Rogers denied drinking, but did admit to the possibility that “some element” of speed may have been involved in the lead up.
The fact that the car was loaded above its safe capacity was also accepted by Rogers as a potential contributing factor.
A toxicology report from the hospital found that Rogers had “low levels” of alcohol in his system, but Sgt Crudden pointed out that the parameters used to measure are different to those used by gardaí.
Rogers had no previous convictions at the time of the crash.
In mitigation, Mr Fogarty informed the court that his client was engaged in an apprenticeship at the time of the accident, which he since had to give up.
He is now endeavouring to train in another trade and the severity of what sentencing would be handed down by the judge could impact that.
The barrister read from a letter that Rogers had written expressing his remorse, which offered his apologies to the Murphy family and to the others involved in the crash, and concluded by thanking the emergency services personnel who attended the scene.
A probation report dated March 2020 noted that Rogers was at “low risk” of reoffending; while Mr Fogerty noted that his client, the eldest of two siblings, had overcome a number of challenges in his life arising from certain birth defects.
He informed the judge that, as a result of the accident, Rogers had had to give up playing GAA, was now engaged with local voluntary work, and will forever live with the guilt of causing the death of Mr Murphy, one of his friends.
“This is one of the most distressing types of cases the court has to deal with,” acknowledged Mr Fogarty, who also provided a psychological assessment and two references for consideration.
At the sentencing hearing this morning, the judge ordered Rogers to do 240 hours of community service in lieu of a 12-month prison term and put him off the road for eight years.
Read more:
Victim Impact Statement from the family - 'Our nightmare that will never end'