Bray People

Man given two years for crash that killed teen

TOMMY WALL (13) DIED FOLLOWING ACCIDENT NEAR ANNAMOE IN 2016

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A MAN who was driving when a 13-year-old boy was fatally injured in an accident was last week sentenced to three years in prison, with the last year suspended.

Jim Connors (38), 2 Glendruid, Ballybrack, appeared for sentencing last Thursday in Wicklow Circuit Court, sitting in Bray. He was charged with dangerous driving causing death.

Tommy Wall (13) of Tallaght died following the crash, which occurred halfway between Laragh and Roundwood on the morning of July 16, 2016.

Four families, including eight adults and 12 children, had come to Troopersto­wn Wood the previous day to camp for the night.

Connors and Tommy Wall went together the following morning to make the trip to Roundwood and back.

The court heard that Connors had consumed a large quantity of alcohol over the course of the previous night.

Both rear tyres on his car were showing signs of progressed aging that may have led to the vehicle failing to react correctly, even under normal driving conditions.

The crash occurred on the way when the car veered off the road and collided with a fence.

Shortly after that, a motorist encountere­d Connors and the boy staggering in the road near Annamoe.

He was informed that they had been in a collision and were seeking a lift back to the boy’s mother. Connors asked him to drop them back to Troopersto­wn Wood.

However, en-route, Tommy Wall’s condition deteriorat­ed and the motorist decided to head for Loughlinst­own Hospital instead.

He rang 999 on the way and was advised to pull over and wait for an ambulance.

The driver stopped just south of Roundwood, about 2.5km from the crash scene, and performed CPR on the teenager until the fire brigade arrived on scene and took over compressio­ns.

They and the paramedics battled to save the boy’s life but could not find a pulse.

Connors admitted to Garda Daragh Keogh that he had been drinking the previous night. The court heard that he was over twice the legal limit, at 73 microgramm­es of alcohol per 100 millilitre­s of breath. A JUDGE told a defendant that alcohol had brought him back to the criminal courts after an absence of 13 years.

‘You need to deal with that – it’s your life,’ said Judge Patricia Macnamara.

Jim Moorehouse (29), 50 Ashwood, Roundwood, appeared in Wicklow District Court on April 17 charged with being drunk in public.

Inspector Brian O’Keeffe told the court that Moorehouse was in Bollarney on August 17, 2017. Gardaí encountere­d him on a busy footpath unsteady on his feet, slurring his speech and with a strong smell of drink. He was arrested as he was a danger to himself and others.

The court heard that he had 13 previous conviction­s, the most recent from 2005.

Judge Patricia McNamara handed down a penalty of €90.

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