Donegal haulier jailed for five years after fatal accident
Last week, 32-year-old Shaun Curran from Co Donegal was jailed for five years for dangerous driving causing the death of 24-year-old dairy farmer Rian Sheridan in March last year, just outside of Roscommon Town.
The Scania truck driven by Curran, a haulier from an Bun Beag in Co Donegal, had crossed to the wrong side of the road as a result of a tyre blow-out, causing him to lose control and collide head on, at speed, with Sheridan’s car.
In the hours that followed, Sheridan’s family and his partner Áine rushed to Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe, but the young man had died before his family could make it.
Misused the tachograph and speeding
During the sentencing hearing details were heard about Shaun Curran and how he had driven 814km on the day of the crash.
When the collision occurred, he had been driving for over 15 hours. He had not taken proper breaks and had four speeding infringements, including one just before the fatal crash, when his truck was recorded travelling at 93km/h.
Curran also misused the tachograph to evade his regulated driving hours and when the crash happened, another person’s tachograph card was being used.
On this point, Judge Kenneth Connolly said the use of another driver’s tachograph card was particularly aggravating because it showed a “pre-determined and pre-meditated express plan to flout road traffic law”.
Seriously defective tyre
Evidence was given around the state of the defective tyre which blew out causing Curran to lose control of the truck.
A forensic collision report found the tyre had lacerations, significant blistering and burn marks on it.
The tread depths were low, and, in some places, there was no tread at all. CCTV footage also showed that Curran had checked the tyre twice on the day of the collision. On one occasion he was seen removing his gloves to get a better feel for the tyre.
Further technical reports also said that excessive wear on the tyre would have been evident because the steering would have been out of alignment and this would have been noticeable to the driver as it would have caused irregular vibrating to the steering wheel.
In his ruling, Judge Connolly said the court found it “repugnant” that Curran to this day was maintaining that he had been unaware the tyre was in a dangerously defective and unroadworthy condition.
He said Mr Sheridan’s death was “completely avoidable” and the actions of the accused had demonstrated a disregard for the safety of road users.
He imposed a headline sentence of seven years but took mitigating factors into account, including an early guilty plea, a good work history and personal circumstances.
The court was told that Curran who had a “fledgling business” with three trucks on the road, all of which he had been repaying loans for, had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.
He had alerted gardaí to dashcam footage from the truck and had made admissions around the misuse of the tachograph.
He expressed remorse about what had happened, and an apology was read to the court.
In it, Curran said he knows there is nothing he can say or do that can bring Rian back, and he takes full responsibility for what happened.
Judge Connolly said it was clear there was “some genuine remorse evident” and no criminal intent.
“This loss of life is something that will also remain with him for his lifetime, but his future actions may, perhaps, lessen his burden. This, again, is his choice,” the judge said.
Judge Connolly noted however that this is something he refused to call an accident, given the elements of inevitability for something most awful to occur, as a result of deliberate choices and decisions of the accused.
The judge reduced the headline sentence to five years and suspended the final 12 months. He also disqualified Curran from driving for seven years.
Here is the link to the RTE article by their Midlands Correspondent Sinead Hussey, who attended the sentencing hearing at Roscommon Circuit Court.