A driver who fell asleep at the wheel causing the death of a young mother and seriously injuring her baby when he lost control of his car has been freed from jail.
The Court of Appeal said the two-year sentence imposed on 64-year-old Anthony Handley was unduly harsh.
Handley of Whitethorn Grove, Artane in Dublin, had pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to dangerous driving causing the death of Olivia Dunne and serious bodily harm to Éabha Dunne in Balbriggan on 17 January 2014.
His lawyers had asked the court to consider a suspended sentence saying his sudden onset of sleep could not have been forseeable.
The court heard the 31-year-old mother was killed instantly when she was hit by Handley's car as she walked with her then three-month-old baby.
Witnesses said the car had crossed onto the wrong side of the road "without warning, like a rocket" and had struck Ms Dunne and the pram from behind.
The driver of a vehicle travelling behind Handley said his car never slowed down and there were no brake lights.
Ms Dunne was killed instantly and the pram went under the car and out behind it.
Baby Éabha suffered serious injuries including internal injuries and a number of leg fractures.
The court was told that garda experts had concluded that driver fatigue was the most likely cause of the crash.
Handley was sentenced to two years in jail in May last year by Judge Pat McCartan and banned from driving for ten years.
Today the court of appeal re-sentenced him to two years but suspended the remaining portion of the sentence.
The ten year driving ban was upheld.
The three-judge appeal court found there were errors of principle in the sentencing of Handley.
It ruled the sentencing judge unfairly penalised him for a delay in pleading guilty.
The court also said the sentencing judge had "erroneously attributed to him a motivation to explore a technical or other defence and deemed his efforts to investigate the medical cause for the accident as in some way diminishing the extent of his remorse."
The appeal court said the sentencing judge attached insufficient weight to the totality of mitigating factors and particularly Handley's role as his wife's main carer.
The judges said the net custodial sentence was "unduly harsh"
The court also said in arriving at these conclusions it was anxious to emphasise that "by any standard this accident was a dreadful tragedy with the most appalling consequences for the family of Mrs Dunne and her young daughter Éabha."
The court said it would allow the appeal and would re-sentence him to two years in jail but suspend the unserved portion of the sentence.
Handley's family broke down in tears in the court as he was released from custody.
