A man who crashed a car at speed into the back of an articulated lorry and walked away from the scene while his friend lay dead in the passenger seat has been jailed for 6½ years.
The car, which was driven by Jake Kelly (22), was trapped underneath the lorry trailer in the wake of the crash, which occurred in July 2023.
The passenger side of the car was covered in hot tar, which poured out of the back of the articulated lorry upon impact, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard on Tuesday.
Emergency responders who arrived at the scene were not aware there was a passenger in the car, and the body of the dead young man, Ross Rice (22), was only discovered a couple of hours after the crash.
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The court previously heard Mr Rice died of blunt force head and chest injuries. His death was instantaneous, the court heard.
Neighbours described hearing a “large explosion” in the wake of the crash, which caused their windows to shake.
Kelly was helped out of the driver’s seat by the truck driver in the immediate aftermath of the incident and then walked away from the scene. He later told gardaí he was not sure if his friend had got out of the car and that he thought he might have been in the fields nearby.
The two friends were going hunting that night and two lurcher dogs were later found in the boot of the car. The speedometer of the car was found stopped at 162km/h. The speed limit of the road was 60km/h at the time due to ongoing roadworks.
Kelly, of Ballyfermot Road, Ballyfermot, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to one count of dangerous driving causing the death of Mr Rice at Dublin Road, Celbridge, Co Kildare on July 18th, 2023.
He also pleaded guilty to failing to report a crash and driving without insurance on the same date. He was on bail at the time for other offences which were later struck out, the court heard. He had no driving licence.
A number of Mr Rice’s family and friends were in court for the sentence. Four victim impact statements were previously handed into court, but not read aloud.
Sentencing Kelly, Judge Martina Baxter said the facts of the case were “harrowing, tragic and distressing”. She noted the victim’s mother died in 2020 and victim impact statements from the family outlined how they had “lost the heart of the family twice in two years”.
Mr Rice had an 11-month-old baby with his partner when he was killed.
“The sentence handed down today can’t alleviate the pain, loss and devastation of the Rice family,” the judge said.
She said it was “ironic” that Mr Rice had himself been banned from driving and that Kelly then drove his car in his stead, without a driving licence.
She noted the death of Mr Rice “was as a consequence of the driving of Mr Kelly” who was driving at “such speed” he had no time to brake before hitting the truck, which was stationary at temporary traffic lights.
She said he did not alert anyone at the scene as to the presence of Mr Rice in the passenger seat, but instead left. As a result, “considerable resources” were put into locating Kelly, including air support.
“If they had known there was a fatality at the scene, they might have helped at an earlier stage,” the judge said.
However, she noted that it was clear that Mr Rice’s death was “catastrophic and fatal” as a result of the collision.
The court heard that although there was no toxicology report as a result of Kelly leaving the scene, he later told a psychologist he had been smoking cannabis earlier that day.
She accepted Kelly is genuinely remorseful for causing the death of his friend. He visits his grave regularly. His personality has completely changed and he has been diagnosed with a major depressive disorder, the court heard.
The judge imposed a sentence of 7½ years and suspended the final year on a number of conditions, including that Kelly engage with the Probation Service. She disqualified him from driving for eight years and ordered that he undergo a speed awareness programme before applying for a new licence.
There was no reaction in court or from Kelly when the sentence was imposed.
