A 55-year-old disqualified driver has been jailed for five years and suspended from driving for 15 years for dangerous driving causing the death of a 34-year-old woman, who had been shopping for her wedding dress hours earlier, in a hit-and-run five years ago.
Laura Connolly was fatally struck by a van, driven by Sean Connaughton which failed to stop in Lifford, Co Donegal on 11 July 2021.
Connaughton with an address at Doolargy Avenue, Dundalk, Co Louth pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of Laura Connolly, failing to remain at the scene, driving without insurance and driving without a licence.
'We didn't get any justice. The family is destroyed and wrecked'
Laura Connolly's mother, Rosemary Connolly, told reporters outside Letterkenny Circuit Criminal Court that she did not feel that her family got justice, adding she has "a broken heart every day" since the death of her daughter.
"He's got five years today, so we didn't get any justice for our daughter's death and the run around that he gave us right up to today, postpone, postponed and put back.
"The family is destroyed and wrecked. Even, five years will never bring my daughter back. We will never be able to be able to get over it."
Ms Connolly said each day has been a struggle since the death of her daughter.
"We can’t celebrate birthdays. I can't go to a wedding. I don't do any celebrations anymore…
"My Laura was just the love of my life from the day she was born. She was a good mother and a good person. Full of life and loved life to the full," she said.
Ms Connolly thanked two men, Martin Gallagher and Rory Gallagher who helped her daughter at the scene of the fatal incident.
"I want to give a big thank you to them, my legal team, and all my family that stayed with us from day one. I'll never be able to move on from this. I have a broken heart every day I get up.
"Laura's in my head, 24/7, she never leaves. I never leave the graveyard to try and get some kind of peace and coming out of that court today; where is the justice for families that's left like me? There is none," Ms Connolly said.
A former firefighter, Sean Connaughton, now aged 55, presented himself at Letterkenny Garda Station on 12 July 2021 after hearing a woman had been killed the previous night.
He was already disqualified from driving for four years from 10 April 2020, for not having insurance on a previous occasion.
Connaughton pleaded guilty to charges of dangerous driving causing death, failing to keep a vehicle at the scene of an accident, driving without insurance and driving without a valid driving licence.
The court heard that Ms Connolly was among five women who were walking along a footpath at Townspark, Lifford, when the incident occurred approximately 200 metres from the 'Three Coins' roundabout.
Ms Connolly had been shopping for her wedding dress hours earlier. She had been out socialising with friends when she was struck by the van approximately 200 metres from the 'Three Coins' roundabout.
Sergeant Eamon Roarty, of Milford Garda Station, outlined details of the incident to State Prosecutor Fiona Crawford, BL.
Ms Crawford read from a number of witness statements given to gardaí as part of their investigation into the incident.
One of Ms Connolly’s friends, Demi Carlin, said Ms Connolly had been in great spirits and had been laughing, dancing and singing and then lay on her back in the middle of the road with her head resting on the centre white line.
Ms Carlin said the other women in the group had walked on and did not realise that Ms Connolly was lying on the road.
She said she heard a vehicle coming and shouted at Ms Connolly to get back on the footpath.
Ms Carlin said she noticed the van, coming from the direction of Castlefin, was going really fast and she had thought the driver had tried to swerve to avoid Ms Connolly on the road.
The van drove over Ms Connolly, failed to slow down and was driven off without stopping.
A statement from another witness, Rory Gallagher, was also read to the court. Mr Gallagher said he heard laughing outside and got up for a smoke and a "nosey".
He heard a bang and thought someone had kicked a car, but when he realised what had happened, he called 999 at 2.38am.
He said he and his father Martin, who had emergency services training, both tried to perform CPR on Ms Connolly but could not find a pulse.
Ms Connolly was taken by ambulance to Letterkenny University Hospital, but she was pronounced dead at 4am.
Blunt force traumatic injuries
A report from State Pathologist Dr Heidi Okkers said the cause of Ms Connolly's death was as a result of blunt force traumatic injuries.
Ms Crawford told the court that Connaughton presented himself at Letterkenny Garda Station on 12 July 2021 after hearing of the incident.
Evidence was also given from Connaughton's personal iPhone of calls and texts being made before and after the time of the collision and that there was no reference to any incident.
There was also no attempt made to wash or clean Connaughton's Citroen Berlingo van before it was driven to the garda station.
A subsequent forensic examination of the van found DNA which was a match to Ms Connolly. The court also heard from victim impact statements from Ms Connolly's family.
Her mother Rosemary told the court that she had not only lost her only daughter but also her best friend.
She said her daughter lived just six doors from her and that they had spent so much time in the previous months planning her wedding.
Victim impact statements were also read out on behalf of Ms Connolly's father Jimmy, brother James, son Jamie and partner Joseph McCullagh.
The court was told that Sean Connaughton has 16 previous convictions, including five under the Road Traffic Act, two under the Larceny Act and others connected to Covid regulations while operating a licensed premises.
Connaughton told the court that whatever he had to say to the Connolly family would be of no comfort to them.
He added that he can never imagine what they have suffered but said he was sorry from the bottom of his heart.
'Laura would have been alive'
He said he accepts he has to live with what he did every day, adding that if he had obeyed his driving ban "Laura would have been alive".
A reference from the Donegal Fire Service was handed into court which said Connaughton provided training and education to other firefighters in various skills and abilities while stationed in Glenties.
Connaughton's barrister Mr Colm Smyth, SC, with Peter Nolan BL and instructed by solicitor Frank Dorrian, said his client had been placed at a moderate risk of reoffending by the Probation Services given his previous convictions and non-compliance.
He said Sean Connaughton was experiencing symptoms of prolonged psychological reaction and is receiving medication for anxiety and high blood pressure.
He added that Connaughton has to live with what he did every day and that it will stay with him forever "while he is in this world" and "long after the sentence that will be imposed".
While passing sentence, Judge John Aylmer said aggravating factors in the case included the fact that Connaughton was driving while disqualified, that he has two previous convictions for driving without a license, that he was driving without insurance, and had a previous drink driving conviction.
Judge Aylmer said the evidence established that Sean Conaughton was driving considerably in excess of 50km speed limit. He was travelling at 73km per hour in the 50km zone a distance back from the point of impact.
The court heard that Connaughton failed to see or heed a car flashing lights warning of a hazard ahead and other pedestrians were waving frantically at him to stop that could only be caused because he was not looking.
Judge Aylmer said that the evidence established from Connaughton's’ phone records that he was texting someone, which explained why he missed the warning hazards ahead.
Judge Aylmer said it was a further aggravating feature that Connaughton braked, swerved and when he ran over Ms Connolly that he failed to remain at the scene.
Judge Aylmer said the fact that Ms Connolly created a hazard was to no avail of assessing Connaughton’s culpability in terms of his offences.
He said the offence of dangerous driving causing the death of Laura Connolly merited a seven-year headline sentence before mitigating factors were taken into consideration.
He said Connaughton received some mitigation for entering a guilty late plea, but added not as much, if it had come earlier in the proceedings.
Judge Aylmer said it appeared that Connaughton was genuinely remorseful and that he did seem to have a significant level of empathy to them.
He remarked that Connaughton had received some death threats of which he was made aware of them by gardaí and that he relocated to Dundalk.
He acknowledged that Connaughton had given the community 25 years of service as a fireman. The probation assessed Connaughton at a moderate risk of re-offending.
Judge John Aylmer reduced the charged of dangerous driving causing the death of Laura Connolly from seven years to six years with the final 12 months suspended.
He reduced the charge of failing to remain at the scene from five years to four years and three months and he reduced the other charges on the indictment from six months to five months to run concurrently.
Sean Connaughton was also disqualified from driving for 15 years.
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