A man was jailed on Wednesday for 5½ years, with the final six months suspended, after admitting to dangerous driving causing the death of his niece while he was high on drink and drugs.
Danny O’Donoghue (43) was coming down off an alcohol and cocaine bender when he rammed into eight-foot high screened gates on December 21st, 2024. His 21-year old niece, Marguerita O’Rourke, née Sheridan, was standing behind the gates when he rammed into them.
Ms O’Rourke had given birth to her first child three weeks earlier , Limerick Circuit Criminal Court heard.
Senior counsel John Bowman had argued O’Donoghue was “unaware” that Ms O’Rourke was standing behind the screened gates.
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Sentencing judge Colin Daly said it was clear O’Donoghue “intentionally and deliberately rammed the gates”, but he accepted O’Donoghue had not intended to cause harm to his niece.
The judge, however, said O’Donoghue’s “level of reckless” was “grave”.
“Marguerita was a young woman, a new wife, aged just 21 and a new mother,” said Judge Daly. “Her son was just three weeks old and the tragedy of her death was compounded by the fact that Danny O’Donoghue was her uncle.
“For one member of a family to cause the death of another only adds to the family’s grief.”
O’Donoghue had an argument with his wife minutes prior to the fatal hit-and-run and had driven away from their home in a rage.
He drove into Rathkeale town and, at three minutes past midday, rammed his van into gates at his niece’s family home.
Ms O’Rourke, who had travelled home from the UK with her three-week-old son to spend Christmas with her family, was flung backwards upon impact. She never regained consciousness and died in hospital four hours later. The hit-and-run was captured on CCTV.
Ms O’Rourke’s mother, Margret Sheridan, identified her brother as the driver of the van to investigating gardaí. It had sped past her as she walked home on the day, moments before it crashed into the gates.
Detective Garda Elaine O’Keeffe said O’Donoghue was heard on CCTV footage screaming at Ms Sherdian to “get out town”, as he sped away from the scene.
While O’Donoghue had no issue with his niece, the court heard there had been tensions between the O’Rourke, Sheridan and O’Donoghue families, who were interconnected through marriage.
After fleeing the scene, O’Donoghue was seen on CCTV in Rathkeale, where he used a weapon to smash windows in a van owned by Patrick Sheridan.
Mr Sheridan, who was in the vehicle, told gardaí his life flashed before him as O’Donoghue approached him with a “three-foot machete”.
Judge Daly imposed a concurrent 2½ year jail sentence on O’Donoghue for producing the machete.
The court heard he eventually handed himself into Garda custody after spending two days on the run.
O’Donoghue pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death, criminal damage, producing a machete during the course of a dispute and failing to remain at the scene of a collision. The final charge was taken into consideration by the court.
Ms O’Rourke’s grieving husband, Denis O’Rourke, wrote in a victim-impact statement: “Whatever feud existed between our families, nothing could excuse what (O’Donoghue) did. This was an attempt to terrorise my entire family and it was intimidation designed to keep us living in fear.”
Ms O’Rourke’s father, John Sheridan, said his daughter’s death has had “a profound and devastating effect” on him and his family.
He described Marguerita as “a kind, loving, wonderful daughter” and “a natural mother to her little son, Edward . . . she couldn’t wait to bring him home to us for Christmas”.
“It was going to be such a joyous time for us, instead we had to face the horrendous reality of her death,” Mr Sheridan said.
A letter written by O’Donoghue and sent to his sister, the victim’s mother, said: “It’s all my fault, I’m so sorry from the bottom of my heart, I’m the person who did this terrible sin, it makes me sick to my stomach.”
O’Donoghue had six previous convictions, including dangerous driving, careless driving, disorderly conduct, failing to comply with a Garda’s directions and causing minor bodily harm in Germany, in March 2023, for which he received a €330 fine.
He also received a seven-year driving ban.
