Donegal man who killed farmer while three times over drink drive limit jailed for four years
Stephen Maguire
A Co Donegal man who got behind the wheel of his car drunk while trying to cope with the tragic death of his only son has been jailed for four years for killing a 70-year-old farmer.
Shaun Duffy was more than three times over the legal drink-driving limit when he caused a three-car collision on the N13 road at Sharon Glebe, Newtowncunningham, on July 5th, 2022.
The 51-year-old crossed into the path of a car being driven by pensioner Mervyn McClure, killing him as he returned from helping out a neighbour on a nearby farm.
Duffy, from Trillick in Buncrana, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death when he appeared before Judge John Aylmer at Letterkenny Circuit Court.
Judge Aylmer said the most aggravating factors in the case was that Duffy was drinking heavily while driving and that he also had six previous convictions for drunk driving.
Members of the deceased pensioner's family including his sister Linda and brothers Derek and Cecil were in court as the sentence was handed down to their brother's killer.
Sergeant Maurice Doyle of Letterkenny Garda Station outlined the case to State prosecutor Ms Fiona Crawford BL.
A French woman and her son were making their way back to their holiday home in Kerrykeel from Derry. The woman outlined how they were travelling in a Seat Ateca when she recalled a “bang”. Her vehicle made contact with the back of a Volkswagen Caddy.
Duffy was travelling from the direction of Manorcunningham when he crossed over the broken white line and onto the incorrect side of the road causing an impact with Mr McClure’s Caddy van. The Seat Ateca was involved in a secondary impact with the van.
Duffy, who was driving a Volkswagen Golf, and his car ended up some 28.61m away from the point of impact.
The court heard how Duffy was 2.42m on the wrong side of the road and a weather report indicated that the night was overcast and misty with occasional outbreaks of drizzle.
The damage was “glancing rather than head-on” in nature and the Golf was “completely on the wrong side of the road," Sergeant Doyle said.
Gardaí who attended the scene noted that Duffy was wearing a high-vis vest and work clothes and they detected a strong smell of an intoxicant liquor with his speech slurred.
Mr McClure, from Lurgy in Letterkenny, was taken by ambulance to Letterkenny University Hospital where he passed away a short time later.
A sample taken from Duffy showed a concentration of 176 milligrammes of alcohol per 100ml of blood, where the legal limit is 50mg/100ml.
Duffy told gardaí that he remembered driving through Kilmacrennan on the night in question, but did not recall going through Letterkenny.
“I don’t know if it was the bang that messed up my head or what,” he told gardaí.
Duffy told investigating officers that he had consumed three pints of alcohol.
Sergeant Doyle confirmed to the court that Duffy has seven previous convictions in this jurisdiction, including six for drink-driving. The offences date back to 1994 and include convictions in 1998, 2004 and 2005.
Sergeant Doyle said that eyewitnesses indicated that Duffy was “somewhat intoxicated” and “slightly disorientated” at the scene.
In interviews with investigating gardaí, Duffy said he struggled to remember the details of the mechanics of the collision.
Duffy’s barrister, Mr Simon Gillespie BL, led by Ms Dara Foynes SC, said the accused suffered the tragic loss of his son, Shaun Jnr - who was 19 - in 2020.
Mr Gillespie said his client asked him to be “conscious not to say anything that would cause any further hurt or distress” to the family of Mr McClure.
Mervyn McClure
A sister of the deceased man read out a heartbreaking victim impact statement on behalf of herself, her brothers Cecil and Derek as well as the extended McClure family.
Choking back tears, Linda McBride gave a lengthy, emotional and fitting tribute to the popular farmer who was so well-known and cherished in his local community.
Ms McBride said Mervyn had reached the age of 70, was the eldest of four siblings and was enjoying partial retirement when his life was cut so tragically short.
She described him as a dedicated farmer, a loving family member and a cherished neighbour.
Ms McBride said her brother had a great knowledge of the local area and always seemed to know who was married to who.
"At his wake a close neighbour remarked 'Mervyn was a great man to get information to get out of but not so good at giving any back’,” she said.
“It was a comment said with warmth, as anyone who knew Mervyn could relate to it. He had a natural way of finding out about people's lives but he kept his own stories close to his own chest.”
She added that Meryn spent his days working passionately on the family farm and his commitment was "unwavering" by the amount of hours daily he put into the land.
"It wasn't just his job, it was his way of life. He took great pride in working the land and caring for his animals. He was the kind of person who would lend a hand for a neighbour in need no matter how busy he was," she said.
It was while returning home from helping at a neighbouring farm on the night July 5th, 2022 that his life was tragically ended.
Ms McBride said the night would be etched in each and every member of the family forever and has affected each and every member of the family in different ways.
Passing sentence, Judge Aylmer said he placed the incident in the upper end of the scale and one which merited a sentence of seven years in prison before mitigation.
He said the accused had entered a very early plea and had behaved in a very appropriate way and did his best to attend to the deceased immediately after the incident.
He added that it was clear from the evidence that the accused has huge remorse and that his offending weighed heavily on him.
Judge Aylmer said that remorse was magnified by the fact that Duffy had suffered the loss of his only son in circumstances that he does not know but that the court heard there was a hint of criminality to.
He said the accused took to alcohol abuse to bear the burden of loss.
He noted Duffy is trying to deal with his alcoholism and is attending counselling and said that is to his credit while the accused has also claimed to have abstained from all alcohol since the start of the year.
He added that Duffy had engaged positively with the Probation Services and that they have put him at a low risk of reoffending.
He also noted he enjoyed a good work history and is a man of 51 years of age.
For these reasons, he reduced the sentence from seven years to one of five years in prison.
He added that Duffy had engaged excellently in rehabilitation and to encourage this he suspended the final 12 months of this sentence meaning Duffy will serve four years in prison.
Duffy was also disqualified from driving for 10 years.
