Donegal man avoids prison after crash that killed his girlfriend

A young Donegal man whose girlfriend was killed after she was ejected from his car when it flipped on a country road after hitting a bump has avoided going to prison.

Conor Lynagh appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court after he pleaded guilty to careless driving causing the death of his girlfriend of four years Charlotte Kelly.

Ms Kelly died a number of days after the single vehicle crash which happened at Meenlaragh, Glen, Carrigart on May 1, 2022.

Lynagh, aged 21, of Abbey Village, Kilmacrennan, also had a charge of driving a vehicle while holding a learner's permit without a qualified and accompanied driver taken into consideration.

Detective Garda Martina Venneman of Garda Headquarters in Dublin and formerly of Milford Garda Station, outlined the details of the tragic incident to barrister for the state, Ms Fiona Crawford, BL.

The couple and Ms Kelly's nephew, William Hutchinson, were traveling to Downings at approximately 9pm on what was described as a good night for driving.

On a downhill section of the road, the car lost control and then went along a grass verge before rolling a number of times and then flipping back onto its wheels.

Lynagh, the driver of the car, looked towards the passenger seat where Ms Kelly had been sitting but she wasn't in the car and he screamed "Where's Charlotte?"

William Hutchinson was still in the back passenger seat.

Evidence was given that none of those in the one litre Hyundai Getz car had been wearing seatbelts.

Lynagh and William Hutchinson got out of the car and they heard a cry from nearby and found Ms Kelly but she was not breathing.

Some passing cars pulled in to offer assistance and the emergency services arrived on the scene and Ms Kelly was initially taken to Letterkenny University Hospital but was then transferred to Beaumont Hospital in Dublin.

Barrister for Lynagh, Mr Simon Gillespie BL. Photo: Joe Boland (North West Newspix)

However, on May 9, 2022, Ms Kelly sadly passed away as a result of the injuries sustained in the crash.

The court was told that a full forensic investigation was carried out into the cause of the crash, details of which were read out in evidence.

Detective Garda Venneman said forensic investigators sourced a similar vehicle to that involved in the crash and carried out tests to assess the speed involved.

The road on which the collision occurred was governed by a speed limit of 80kph.

Tests carried out using the second, similar car, showed a comfortable speed of 80kph but that the car "bottomed out" slightly between 97kph and 105kph, leading to a conclusion from forensic collision investigators that "speed is associated with this collision."

However, when interviewed, Lynagh denied he was speeding at any time while William Hutchinson also said that the car was not traveling any more than 75kph adding: "it was not a big car."

The court heard heartbreaking victim impact statements from the family of Ms Kelly, who had just turned 17 at the time of the tragedy.

One of the statements came from William Kelly, Charlotte's father, who has since passed away from cancer but who prepared a statement before his death.

The statement described seeing Charlotte after the accident, a moment he described as "every parent's worst nightmare."

Mr Kelly spoke about his daughter fighting for ten days for her life and praying for good news.

However, her death brought the realisation that he would never see her walk down the aisle and never see her married with children.

Her bedroom has not been touched since her death, his statement added, and that that there was just silence in his heart and that he misses his daughter every day.

"I need to get some clarity and truth. I need to understand what took my daughter away from me," Mr Kelly’s statement said.

As well as a touching statement from her family, another statement on behalf of the deceased woman's mother Kathleen was also read out.

She told how her daughter had great ambitions, always gave one hundred percent, had strong opinions and always had to have the last word.

She added Charlotte was keen to work in a nursery and had great affection for young children.

Mrs Kelly said that Charlotte will be deeply missed and that her entire family is heartbroken trying to come to terms with her loss.

"Losing Charlotte has brought a depth of sadness that I did not believe was possible, there are no words to describe it....I cannot see any end to it and I will carry this broken heart with me until my time is over," she said.

The scene of the collision in 2022. Photo: North West Newspix

Ms Kelly said that she hoped that her daughter's death would warn other young people about the dangers of what she called reckless driving and the impacts it has.

She concluded by saying that the actions of Conor Lynagh on the night had changed their lives forever.

The mother of the accused man, Ms Fiona Lynagh, then took to the witness stand.

She told how Conor is the second eldest of her six children and that he now works in construction. She spoke about how Conor and Charlotte were "besotted" with each other.

However, since the accident he masks his emotions and says very little.

When he is depressed he makes lists of sad music and when he is overwhelmed, he makes Tiktoks of himself and Charlotte.

She added that her son has had a few failed relationships since Charlotte's death but that he has always been open about his feelings for Charlotte and only wishes her peace and rest.

Ms Lynagh concluded by saying that Charlotte was a big part of their lives and that all they ever wanted was her to be part of all their lives forever.

Barrister for the accused, Mr Simon Gillespie, BL, instructed by solicitor Frank Dorrian, said his client has no previous convictions and said this was a "classic case of a momentary lapse of attention."

Mr Gillespie said that from the outset his client had asked him to relay to the Kelly family about how sorry he is for the loss of Charlotte.  

He said he did not propose to address the court on the speed but did want to address the issue of the non-wearing of seatbelts by those in the car.

He said that the accused "fully acknowledges" that none were wearing seatbelts and "that was on him", that it was his mistake and that he is very sorry for it.

He added that in relation to the offence, the court had heard the testimony of the accused man's mother. He said he was simply broken and "emotionally devastated."

He now copes by throwing himself into his work and references were handed into court on behalf of Lynagh from his employer and from the principal of his former secondary school.

Summing up, Mr Gillespie said this was "the most tragic of cases" as a result of a momentary lapse but the hurt was not caused to a stranger but to a person the accused loved so deeply.

He added that Lynagh is dealing with hurt, anguish, remorse and grief and he knows that he has contributed in a careless way to Charlotte's death.

"One moment has altered the lives of everyone in this case," said Mr Gillespie.

Passing sentence, Judge John Aylmer said he had to decide where on the scale of such offences he had to place the incident which carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison for careless driving causing death.

On the issue of speed, Judge Aylmer said he found the evidence of passenger Willian Hutchinson as the "most persuasive" saying he found the evidence given by the assessor that speed was a factor - "that evidence falls far short of proof beyond reasonable doubt."

He said the most culpable aggravating factor as part of the overall charge of careless driving causing death was that all three people in the car were unbelted, adding that he had no doubt the outcome of this tragic accident would have been very different.

He said the accident happened on what is "a very challenging road" with undulations and a succession of hills and dips.

The Judge said the most aggravating factor is the devastating consequences and loss of life, in this case Lynagh's girlfriend of four years and someone he was very close to.

He said he has listened very carefully to the victim impact statements from Charlotte's mother and father and that it was clear the impact is appalling.

He said balancing that appalling consequence of a loss of life against precisely whatever level of culpability there was, he said he placed it at the upper end of the scale of such offending and merited a sentence of 18 months in prison before he considered mitigation.

In mitigation, he said the accused was cooperative, had entered an early plea, had not come to adverse attention, that he had received references from his employer and former school and that he was a person otherwise of excellent character.

He added that Lynagh was a young man clearly with huge potential in life, that he was extremely remorseful and that he will struggle with the role in the death of his girlfriend for the rest of his life. He said these factors mandated a reduction in sentence to one of 12 months.

However, Judge Aylmer added that he was obliged to pause and consider if there was a more suitable and appropriate non-custodial sentence.

He said that having regard to all of those mitigating circumstances, he took the view that the more appropriate sentence was one of 240 hours community service in lieu of the 12 months in prison.