Fatal chase driver jailed for 14 years
A MAN convicted of causing a road crash that claimed the life of a 20-year-old woman three years ago was jailed for 14 years yesterday.
Earlier this year, following a 13day trial, Michael Collins, of St Finian’s Park, Drogheda, was found guilty of dangerous driving causing the death of Jillian Thornton on May 27, 2016 at Waterside Great, Duleek, Co. Meath.
A garda witness said the defendant appeared to have been playing ‘chicken’ with other motorists.
Collins, 45, who defended himself after sacking his legal team, was also convicted on two charges of endangerment, 12 of dangerous driving and driving under the influence.
The court heard the defendant was on his way to a music festival in Mullingar on the night with the victim and a friend, Alannah Byrne, who survived the crash.
Jillian was killed when she was thrown from the back seat of the defendant’s car, which was split in two when it hit another car near Ballymagarvey on the N2. It followed a 35-minute Garda pursuit.
The trial had heard recordings of 999 calls from passengers in the car claiming the driver was going to crash unless gardaí called off the pursuit. One of the calls ended in a scream before the crash.
The court heard evidence of Collins speeding on the wrong side of the road, being involved in near misses, driving head-on at Garda vehicles, travelling without lights and weaving from side to side.
Collins, who was found to have cannabis in his system, claimed in court he had been in fear for his life as someone had ‘put a hit on him’ and he did not believe it was gardaí who were following him.
He claimed that at one stage he was being followed by ten Garda cars, and that just before the crash his car was rammed into the other vehicle. The court heard that later investigations found no evidence to support this claim.
In a victim impact statement, Jillian’s mother Lorraine said: ‘It could have been all stopped if he had only stopped the car, that’s all he had to do, stop the car and let her out because she wanted to get out.’
Judge Martina Baxter, who expressed her sympathy to the Thornton family, sentenced Collins to five years for endangerment plus 10 years for dangerous driving causing death, with the final 12 months suspended.