This article is from page 10 of the 2006-11-14 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 10 JPG
THE mother of one of the Kilkee girls killed in a car driven by a 15year old has formally requested the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to appeal the leniency of the sentence given to the driver.
At Ennis Circuit Court last month, David Naughton (19) was jailed for three years after he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of two girls, Stacey Haugh (16) and Lorna Mahoney (13) on October 17, 2003.
Imposing sentence, Judge Con Murphy said that Naughton was on a campaign of dangerous driving on the night in question.
Solicitor for Mrs Mahoney, Eugene O’Kelly, has written to the DPP on her behalf to have Naughton’s sentence appealed to the Court of Criminal Appeal.
The letter focuses on Naughton’s extradition warrant, and demands to know who was responsible for errors on it.
“This error had the most significant impact on the length of the sentence imposed and was wholly within the Prosecution’s control.
The letter continues, “Mr. Naughton had done everything in his power to avoid prosecution for this offence including failing to appear while on bail for the first time. When he was subsequently arrested he was again granted bail and absconded to the UK. . . .
“He only pleaded guilty when there was no other option open to him. In the circumstances it is questionable whether he should have been given the benefit of his guilty plea in mitigation . . . His attempts to avoid prosecution added considerably to my client, and her family’s, distress . . .”