Drunk driver with open wine bottle and children in car jailed for killing 'gifted' teacher and cyclist

A drunk female driver had her two young children with her and an open bottle of wine on the passenger seat when she crashed her car into and killed ‘gifted’ teacher and cyclist Michael Lorigan, a court has heard.

At Ennis Circuit Court, Judge Francis Comerford has imposed a five-year prison term, suspending the final six months, on Saoirse Lillis McMahon (33) for the dangerous driving causing the death of Michael Lorigan (70) on August 16th, 2023, on the N67 at Baunmore, Kilkee in west Clare.

Judge Comerford also imposed a seven-year driving ban on Lillis McMahon of Moveen East, Kilkee, who was driving under the influence of alcohol and had a 'cocktail' of drugs in her system, including cocaine.

During the sentencing hearing, Lillis McMahon wept as the circumstances around the crash were laid out and during four victim impact statements read out to the court.

Imposing sentence, Judge Comerford said that Lillis McMahon was driving the car “when she was completely unfit to drive and posed a real danger to anyone that she came across”.

Judge Comerford said that Lillis McMahon posed “a very real danger” to her two boys, aged six and nine at the time, who were passengers in the car, due to the intoxicants that she had taken.

Lorigan was coming towards the end of a 55-mile cycle and was just five miles away from meeting his wife, Dympna, in Kilkee where the two planned to celebrate their 39th wedding anniversary.

In one of a number of heart-rending victim impact statements read out in court, Dympna said that she passed Michael out in her car at 12.15pm on the day on her way to Kilkee and she commented “that was the last time I saw him alive”.

Ten minutes later, local gardaí received a call from a motorist of a car driving erratically on the N67 and gardaí despatched a car to the area.

However, before gardaí arrived, the same motorist phoned gardaí again to say that she had just witnessed that same blue Vauxhall Astra car crash into a cyclist.

In evidence, Garda Noreen King told the court that Lillis McMahon’s car struck Lorigan’s bicycle from behind as the two were both heading towards Kilkee.

King said that motorists had witnessed Lillis McMahon’s car swerving across the road before impact. The garda said that conditions for driving were good on the day and Lillis McMahon struck Lorigan on a long straight stretch of road.

Lorigan – who spent his entire teaching career in The Modh Scoil in Limerick and lived in Kilkishen, Co Clare – was wearing a helmet and counsel for the State, Sarah Jane Comerford (instructed by State Solicitor for Co Clare, Aisling Casey) said that a post-mortem found that Lorigan died from blunt force injuries to the neck and head.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Visibly upset

Garda King said that Lillis McMahon and her two children were all visibly upset at the scene and that an open bottle of wine was observed on the front passenger seat of Lillis McMahon’s car.

Comerford said that Lillis McMahon was unsteady on her feet and was cautioned immediately due to the strong smell of alcohol. Lillis McMahon subsequently failed a test for alcohol where she showed a 93mg of alcohol per 100ml of urine – the legal limit is 67mg of alcohol and she was 50 per cent over the legal limit.

Garda crash scene investigator, Garda Brendan Condon, found that Lillis McMahon was driving at a speed of between 81km/h and 99km/h before impact and did not brake before impact.

The report by Garda Condon found that the car was dangerously defective. The speed limit for that stretch of road was 100km/h.

Garda King said that after caution Lillis McMahon said “I cannot believe that I have killed a man”.

Lillis McMahon had stayed with a friend the previous night in Crusheen where there were some drugs taken.

At garda interview, Lillis McMahon expressed remorse and said that she thought of Lorigan’s wife all the time.

She said: “I am sorry it happened – the night before wasn’t planned at all. I had my kids with me. It shouldn’t have happened. I think about his wife all the time.

“I am so sorry. I felt really guilty just walking after it happened. I haven’t left the house in months – I didn’t want to drive the car that morning, but I knew that I had to leave that house.”

Counsel for Lillis McMahon, Lorcan Connolly SC (instructed by solicitor John Casey) said that his client wants to acknowledge "the profound and irreversible loss suffered by Mr Lorigan’s wife, family, friends and wider community".

Connolly said that Lorigan “was a gifted person and his loss is enormous” and he was completely and utterly blameless for what happened on the day.

He said that “in a heartbeat the accused would switch places”.

Mr Connolly said that Ms Lillis McMahon “won’t be able to forgive herself and she will continue to live with shame and regret”.

He said that she has lost custody of her children, lost her job and lives in isolation from her community. He said that she had a history of mental health difficulties.

The court was told that Lillis McMahon was uninsured to drive the Vauxhall Astra and was disqualified from driving on the day, but that disqualification was subsequently overturned on appeal.

Sentence

Imposing sentence, Judge Comerford said that he imposed a headline 96-month prison term and reduced it to 60 months due to Ms Lillis McMahon's early plea of guilty and remorse.

Judge Comerford suspended the final six months on condition that she co-operate with the Probation Service after the service stated that it can intervene with her problematic drink and drug taking.

Addressing Dympna Lorigan and members of the Lorigan family, Judge Comerford said “no matter what sentence I select I can’t undo the harm that is done”.

Judge Comerford noted that last Sunday would have been Mr Lorigan’s 73rd birthday and should have been a day of celebration for the Lorigan family.

“Michael, my soulmate, life partner, and the person who knew me best and accepted me as I am, needlessly and cruelly lost his life. He endured an undeserved, senseless and tragic death. He was fit and well, had a lot more living to do but he was unjustifiably denied that.

“Michael was a unique individual, full of life and a force of nature in the most positive sense. He encouraged me to be brave, to face difficulties and to be resilient. He was a good, caring person and never wasted time. He spent so much of his life creating, making, thinking imaginatively and solving problems.

“He had a dynamic, energetic personality, had a heightened sense of fun, was personable with a quick witted sense of humour. He was generous with his time and always had time for others, especially his sisters and his family. Michael had an all-consuming interest in his well-being, keeping fit and healthy.

“He exercised and cycled almost every day and had more than 30 years experience of cycling on the roads. He was a careful cyclist, didn’t take chances, respected the rules of the road and was always vigilant. He was enjoying and embracing retirement, having time for himself and the pursuits he loved. He was cheated out of this precious time of his life.

“But now I have to face life on my own and that is so very daunting. The heartbeat and soul of the home Michael and I built together is gone forever. It is just a place to live now. There is an emptiness there that I never experienced before, a sense of emotional isolation, part of the legacy of trauma suffered.

“We took our vows on the 16^th August 1984, and since then we were fully committed to each other. We complemented each other in character, had complete trust in each other and shared innermost thoughts and emotions. We had a fulfilled, happy life together that ended far too soon. "