FAMILY STATEMENT:IT WAS the hardest thing he has ever done in his life. That was how Seamus Bourke described having to read a victim impact statement at Nenagh Circuit Court yesterday, where details of a horrific road crash which claimed the life of his youngest child were revealed.
There was silence when Seamus Bourke took to the witness stand and read a statement on behalf of his family, whom he said were “heartbroken”.
The loss of his youngest child was compounded by the death of his wife Joan, who lost her battle for cancer just seven months after the New Year’s Eve crash.
“Joan was receiving treatment for a terminal form of cancer and she was stable at the time, but the loss of her son had a terrible effect on her and her condition deteriorated and she died on July 17th 2009, just seven months later,” Mr Bourke told the court.
“Padraig’s death in this senseless accident had a terrible effect on us. The suddenness and nature of his death has shocked us deeply, and we miss him terribly. It has changed our lives forever,” he continued.
The widower described his son as an outgoing, popular teenager who loved sport, especially hurling. The 16-year-old, who was the youngest of nine children, was very close to his siblings, was respectful and obedient to his parents and always came home at the agreed time, his father recalled.
“My son Padraig, the youngest of my nine children, went out to play a game of pool for half an hour but somehow ended up in a car,” he said.
“My family will never forget New Year’s Eve 2008 for the rest of our lives. We had a tradition of always getting together to welcome in the New Year, but instead we had to face this terrible tragedy.”
Mr Bourke said the death of his son was a life sentence for his family, who still suffer sleepless nights.
After he finished in the witness box, Judge Tom Teehan said reading the statement must have been very traumatic for Mr Bourke, to which he replied: “It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.” Before imposing sentence, Judge Teehan described the statement as “heart rendering”, and said he was certain the other two bereaved families shared Mr Bourke’s grief.
“The tragic deaths of three young people raises this to a level of seriousness which the court cannot ignore,” Judge Teehan said.
The judge recalled hearing about the tragedy at the time like “hundreds of thousands of people across the country”.
He said he accepted Mr Clarke’s young age at the time, his previous good record and the fact he had co-operated fully with gardaí, but he said he could not lose sight of the “appalling consequences of what happened”.
“The courts will not tolerate driving while drinking, driving dangerously and driving while speeding, and it is an important part of the sentencing process that these facts be known,” he said.
Before imposing the two-year term, Judge Teehan said Thomas Clarke would have to live with the consequences of that fateful night for the rest of his life.