A 49-year-old Derry man has been given a two year suspended prison sentence and disqualified from driving for 10 years after pleading guilty at Sligo Circuit Court to dangerous driving causing the death of a 15-year-old school girl.
Maria Rooney was sitting on her school bag, waiting for a bus near grange in Co Sligo in December 2005 when she was killed by a car driven Liam O' Hara of Hawthorn Park, Greysteel Co. Derry.
O'Hara's Peugeot 205 crossed onto the wrong side of a wide, straight stretch of main road and crashed into Maria Rooney and her friend Linda Rooney.
Maria died instantly and her friend was seriously injured, but survived.
O'Hara said he was very sorry for what happened and he thought he may have had a black out or fallen asleep at the wheel.
Judge Anthony Kennedy described his driving utterly crazy but said no useful purpose would be served by imprisoning him immediately.
