Courts

Driver who struck and killed motorcyclist disqualified from driving for three months and fined €2,000

John Keane (34) killed following collision between his motorcycle and car driven by Karl Ennis (65) in April 2021

Karl Ennis pleaded guilty to careless driving causing death. Photograph: Collins Courts
Karl Ennis pleaded guilty to careless driving causing death. Photograph: Collins Courts
Eimear Dodd
Tue Oct 08 2024 - 19:22

The mother of a motorcyclist killed in collision three years ago has said his loss has left a “void” in the family.

In a victim impact statement, Annette Keane told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that her youngest son John (34) was a “kind and caring person” who was heavily involved in charity work.

Over the last 12 months of his life, Mr Keane had voluntarily delivered PPE throughout the country during the Covid pandemic.

Mr Keane was killed following a collision between his motorcycle and a car driven by Karl Ennis (65) on the evening of April 14th, 2021.

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Ennis was completing a right turn from Northwest Business Park on to Mitchelstown Road in Dublin 15, when his black Peugeot coupe collided with Mr Keane’s black Yamaha motorcycle.

Mr Keane’s parents, Annette and John Snr, along with other family members were present in court for the sentence hearing.

“We don’t wish any harm on the man who was driving the car. I feel for him deeply too,” Mrs Keane told the court.

She shook the defendant’s hand as she walked to the witness box to read the statement. Ennis could be heard saying “I’m sorry” before they hugged briefly.

Ennis pleaded guilty to a charge of careless driving. The court heard that he was initially charged with careless driving causing death, but the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) accepted a guilty plea to the summary offence on the basis that the Keane family could provide victim impact evidence.

The maximum penalty for careless driving is a fine of up to €5,000. The court also has the power to impose a disqualification or five penalty points.

Ennis, of Templeton, Fethard-on-Sea, Co Wexford, was disqualified from driving for three months and fined €2,000.

Imposing sentence, Judge Pauline Codd extended the court’s condolences to the Keane family, noting that Mr Keane was “obviously very loved and good”.

Judge Codd noted the DPP had accepted a plea to a summary charge, but said the case is “serious” in the sense that it involved a young man’s death.

She said Ennis’s culpability arose from not seeing the motorbike, but was reduced by factors including the road’s gradient and that sadly, the motorbike was travelling at high speed.

While Ennis was not “wholly to blame” for the collision, he didn’t “pay sufficient attention as he didn’t see the motorcycle approaching”, the judge said.

Judge Codd noted the Keane family’s “forgiving attitude” and in the circumstances, the court would adopt “a merciful attitude”.

A forensic collision report was noted a number of contributing factors, barrister Fionnuala O’Sullivan, prosecuting, told the court. She noted that the examiners concluded the motorcycle would have been visible to Ennis as he carried out the right turn, but a contributing factor was the speed of the bike, which was in excess of the road’s 50km/h speed limit.

The court heard that Mr Keane’s motorcycle was calculated to be travelling at average speeds of 128km/h before the impact with the car.