A Co Down man has been jailed for five years for the manslaughter of a man he ran over with a car in Dundalk town centre following a row over alleged remarks to a woman.
Conor O'Reilly (27) of Kildarragh Close, Warrenpoint Road, Newry, pleaded guilty in July to the manslaughter of Brendan Leggett on Park Street, Dundalk, on September 10th, 2005.
He also admitted assaulting then student garda Colm Murray, causing him harm on the same occasion by punching him, after the two got into an argument over the alleged remarks to O'Reilly's sister.
When people at the scene tried to hold O'Reilly until gardaí arrived, he got into his car and attempted to drive away. Mr Leggett and another person stood in front of the car attempting to block its exit, but Mr Leggett was dragged underneath the car and seriously injured. Mr Leggett, from Dowdallshill, Dundalk, was rushed to Beaumont Hospital and died four days later.
Judge Michael White was told O'Reilly tried to commit suicide some days afterwards because he was so overcome with remorse for what he had done to Mr Leggett. He drove to a secluded place and tried to kill himself by taking sleeping pills.
However, he was then contacted by his sister who persuaded him to come home, but on the way he fell asleep while driving and crashed his car, resulting in a stay in hospital.
Derek Kenneally SC read out a letter by O'Reilly in which he said he would never forget the effect of his actions. "It is a night I will never forget and it will haunt me for the rest of my life. All the grief and pain that I have caused does not compare to the grief felt by Brendan's family," he said.
Mr Kenneally said O'Reilly accepted that "pulling away with Mr Leggett in such close proximity was grossly negligent. There was never any intention or desire to cause harm to the victim".
He said O'Reilly panicked and fled the scene.
Expert evidence showed O'Reilly was driving at a speed of less than one mile per hour. While he thought there had been contact he didn't think for a moment that he had caused serious injury to anyone, Mr Kenneally added.
Judge White, sitting at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, said O'Reilly was guilty "of recklessness to a very high degree". He didn't remain at the scene and it must have been clear to him that he had driven over some obstruction.
The judge said Mr Leggett "was not being aggressive but had acted as a concerned citizen" before he was killed. He accepted that O'Reilly, who came from a decent family, was genuinely remorseful but the court had to weigh up all the factors and had to be mindful that it was dealing with the loss of a life.
Judge White said that a suspended sentence as proposed by Mr Kenneally "wouldn't be appropriate in this case, which is at the upper end of recklessness". He imposed a five-year sentence on the manslaughter charge and one year for the assault on Mr Murray, both to run concurrently.