A motorcycle driver who was involved in a crash in which the female pillion passenger on his bike was killed has been sentenced to six months in prison for drink driving.
Ray Folliard, Cartoon South, Ballyhaunis, pleaded guilty to drink driving at the local court this week. The court heard that the Director of Public Prosecutions decided not to prosecute him for death causing dangerous driving.
The charge against Folliard came about after he was involved in the motorcycle accident on May 22 2010 on the Ballyhaunis to Claremorris road. The pillion passenger on his bike was killed after she was thrown from the bike in the crash. The court was told that on the night in question Folliard and his passenger, Sharon O’Dowd, were en route to a party when, Folliard claimed to gardaí, he came around a right hand bend and an oncoming car failed to dip its full headlights. He lost control of the bike, with the back wheel skidding on chippings before crashing. Ms O’Dowd was thrown from the bike and was fatally injured in the accident.
When Folliard gave a blood sample to gardaí it returned a reading of 114mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. The court was told that Folliard had a number of previous convictions for various road traffic offences including drink driving.
Solicitor for Folliard, Declan O’Callaghan, asked Judge Devins to be as lenient as she could in sentencing as his client had lost a very good friend in the accident and had himself been very severely affected by the incident, noting the effect it has had on the victim’s family and his own.
Judge Mary Devins commented that it was the decision of the DPP not to prosecute him for death causing dangerous driving, but she could not ignore the background of the case. Judge Devins convicted and fined Folliard €1,000, disqualified him from driving for six years and sentenced him to six months in prison.
