A man who fatally struck a 14-year-old schoolgirl in Co Offaly last year while texting at the wheel has been sentenced to two years in prison.
Eric Dunne, 26, of Belair, Ballycumber, Co Offaly, was found to have been sending text messages from his mobile phone seconds before his Hyundai Santa Fe jeep fatally struck Aoife Doyle as she and her best friend Cara Cronly walked along the R436 Clara to Ballycumber Road at Erry, Clara, on 20 March, 2020.
Dunne pleaded guilty last November to dangerous driving causing death ahead of today's sentencing hearing before Judge Keenan Johnson.
The court had heard that Dunne told gardaí he had been out shopping with his girlfriend in Tullamore on the day the collision ocurred.
He said he could not remember seeing the two schoolgirls walking along the side of the road or if the lights to a jeep he had purchased from his father just over a week previously were switched on.
"All I remember was the bang," he said, and that he also could not recall texting from his phone in the minutes leading up to the tragedy.
In a letter written by Dunne and read out on his behalf by defence counsel Des Dockery SC, the former night operations courier supervisor expressed his remorse over the incident.
"I wish it was me instead of Aoife," he said.
"She would be here today if it wasn't for my stupidity. I can honestly say I did not see her and there is not a day or night that I don't think of her."
The court was told that Dunne was also an unaccompanied learner driver when the incident unfolded.
The soon-to-be father, who had been suffering from a "crippling anxiety condition" prior to the tragedy, had previously been driving for eight years and sat his driving test on three separate occasions, failing each time.
"I would gladly take her (Aoife's) place," he told the court.
"I have to live with this for the rest of my life. I know you must hate me, maybe some day you will forgive me. I am sorry and I always will be."
Victim impact statements were also read out by Aoife's friend Cara Cronly and her aunt Emer Doyle, both of whom relayed the daily anguish which has been left by Aoife's death.
"We thought we would grow old together," said Cara.
"We knew everything about each other. We had so many secrets together. I just miss her and I find it hard to see a future without her."
For her part, Ms Doyle said the void left by Aoife's death had brought untold personal hardship to her parents Oonagh and Damien as well as the wider Doyle family.
"One of the hardest days in all of this was her 15th birthday on 20 September, six months to the day she was killed," said Ms Doyle.
"Instead of giving her cake, we were laying flowers on her grave. We are broken beyond repair. The impact of Aoife's death has been truly life changing and no words will ever capture that."
At the sentencing hearing Judge Johnson described the circumstances surrounding the case as "horrific" and "heartbreaking", describing Aoife as being a child that was "full of vitality, ability and talent".
In determining sentence, Judge Johnson said the case centred on two "primary aggravating factors", being, the fact that Dunne was texting and using a mobile phone at the time of the incident, something which was compounded by the revelation he was on a learner permit and unaccompanied.
He referenced a 2015 campaign by the Road Safety Authority which showed how texting while driving makes the possibility of a crash 23 times more likely.
In light of those statistics, Judge Johnson urged car manufacturers to follow the lead set by the US in adopting phone app's which prevent drivers from texting when driving.
"Consideration should also be given to lobbying phone manufacturers and car manufacturers about the mandatory installation of technology that prevents drivers from texting," he said.
Judge Johnson sentenced Dunne to three years and six months in prison, suspending the final 18 months for five years subject to a number of conditions.
They included stipulations that Dunne enter into a peace bond, engage with probation services for 18 months post release and to liaise with mental health services and psychology services.
Judge Johnson also disqualified Dunne from driving for a period of ten years.
"Some may feel that given the tragic consequences of the offending, the sentence is too lenient," he said, adding he would be thinking of Aoife's family on Saturday at what will be the first anniversary of her death.
"However, I believe the sanction is measured, just and fair.
"The sentence is structured not so much to punish the accused, but rather to deter others who might be tempted to text while driving and to emphasise the fatal dangers that such activity attracts."
