A 28-year-old driver who fled the crashed car in which his girlfriend was dying and did not seek help was sentenced to a total of 16 months in prison at the Circuit Criminal Court in Castlebar, Co Mayo, on Thursday.
Liam Ginty (28), Inver, Barnatra, Belmullet, appeared for sentencing before Judge Eoin Garavan having pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to dangerous driving causing the death of Tracey Moran (25), Milltown, Glenamoy and leaving the scene of the impact at Knocknalower, Barnatra on March 17th, 2022.
Stating that the life of the Moran family had been “permanently marred”, Judge Garavan sentenced Ginty to three years in prison with the final 20 months suspended.
Tracey Moran’s parents, Eamon and Anne, along with her sisters, Michelle, Louise, Rebecca and brother, Thomas were in court for the sentencing hearing but indicated afterwards they did not wish to comment.
However, in victim impact statements read in open court Ms Moran’s parents said they will always struggle with the fact that Ginty left Tracey to die in the car and did not call for help.
“We accept that he did not set out to kill Tracey that night but nonetheless his decisions and actions caused her death.
“We will always struggle with the fact that he left the scene of the crash and did not call for help.
“He will have to live with what he has done for the rest of his life”.
In a separate victim impact statement, Ms Moran’s siblings said the past 15 months have been very difficult for their parents who have suffered ill health as a result of the death and find it very difficult to come to terms with what happened.
The statement continued: “We never imagined we would have to plan a funeral for our 25 year-old sister. We were supposed to grow old together. We should have seen Tracey get married and have a family of her own. Instead all we have are memories and a grave to visit”.
An earlier court was told the couple had been socialising together in Belmullet and got into Ginty’s car after failing to get a taxi home. Later, when the Volkswagen Jetta car crashed into a pillar at Knocknalower, a local couple heard a loud bang and found Tracey Moran slumped in the footwell of the passenger seat with no sign of the driver.
In a bid to find the missing driver, the local Coastguard unit and a rescue helicopter was tasked to search the area.
When Liam Ginty’s mother heard her son had been involved in a crash she found him at home and brought him to Belmullet Garda station telling officers she was bringing him to hospital.
When interviewed by gardaí the following day Ginty admitted he had been driving and claimed to have “panicked”.
Pleading for leniency, Desmond Dockery, counsel for the defendant, said his client went to hospital on the night of the crash in order to meet Ms Moran’s family and was allowed to attend the funeral and carry the coffin.