A 21-year-old man has been jailed for four years for what was described as catastrophic life-changing injuries suffered by a retired local GP when he was knocked off his bicycle in 2023.
Patrick Sweeney, from Ballinrobe, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm to Dr Paul Carney and for driving with drugs in his system.
He was also disqualified from driving for ten years.
For the Carney family and friends who attended the hearing, Dr Carney was a father, husband, grandfather.
But he is now in a nursing home with a traumatic brain injury and complex physical needs.
Dr Carney was a physically healthy man who ran the New York and London marathons, played golf and enjoyed swimming and cycling.
He was on his bike near the village of Ballyheane on the N84 when the incident occurred in June 2023.
The court heard how Sweeney was driving without insurance or a driving licence when he overtook a BMW in his Toyota Avensis in what appeared to be "speeding game" and struck Dr Carney on his bicycle.
He was travelling at, on average, 115kmph.
CCTV footage showed Dr Carney exiting a side road and travelling south on the hard shoulder in the direction of Ballyheane before being struck.
The impact of the collision sent his bicycle flying into a neighbouring garden and left him lying on the ground.
Gardaí arrived at the scene and Sweeney failed a roadside drug test.
Spent compensation on 'drugs and lifestyle'
The court heard Sweeney had an accident when he was 18 and received €35,000 in compensation.
He spent it all on "drugs and lifestyle".
Judge Eoin Garavan said Sweeney had a "chaotic" drugs history of cocaine, ecstasy, benzodiazepines, and alcohol.
He said a "deadly collection of aggravating factors" had left Dr Carney in the condition he is in today.
'No winners in this case'
In a victim impact statement delivered by Dr Carney's daughter, Brenda, at an earlier hearing, she spoke of the devastating physical and psychological effects on her father.
"His world should have been so big and full but now it's reduced to the four walls of a room. He is a living corpse, stuck in a life of unimaginable suffering."
Ms Carney said her father had clung on to his life but now she says the family know there is a fate worse than death.
"That day he was on top of the world after receiving a clean bill of health following gruelling cancer treatment.
"He dropped the grandchildren to school and was planning a swim after his cycle.
"Then the unthinkable happened - a call from the guards that turned our lives upside down."
Judge Garavan said there were mitigating factors considered in the sentencing of Sweeney.
He had given an early guilty plea, had no history of violence and he had returned to the scene of the collision minutes after leaving.
Sweeney wrote a letter of apology to the Carney family.
He expressed his "self-disgust" and sought their forgiveness. He said he is now completely off drugs and is working at becoming a better person.
Sweeney was sentenced to five years in prison, with the final 12 months suspended.
The Carney family and friends huddled together outside the court afterwards.
They declined to speak to the media apart from Brenda Carney saying "there are no winners in this case".
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