A MAN WHO was driving for only three weeks when his vehicle overturned at a speed of 134 km/h on the M50, causing the death of a friend, has been given a suspended sentence for dangerous driving.
Robert Carroll (22), Firhouse, Dublin, paid €6,500 for the Toyota Galanza car which experts found was so modified that it became a lethal vehicle.
Det Garda Kieron Murphy said the car had twice failed the NCT test but then passed it before the incident in which Carroll and others were driving in convoy on the 120 km/h speed limit M50.
Carroll had moved out into the overtaking lane. When another driver came up at speed on the hard shoulder, he "yanked the steering wheel" of his vehicle to the left to return to the slow lane but lost control and his car overturned, killing front-seat passenger Louise Blacoe (22).
It emerged that modifications had been made to the car including the replacement of the steering wheel, which caused the air bags to be disconnected, and that the vehicle was not suitable for use on a public road.
Carroll pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to dangerous driving causing the death of Ms Blacoe on, the M50 southbound at Shankill in March 2007.
Det Garda Murphy said there "wasn't a sniff of drugs or alcohol" involved.
Patrick Marrinan SC said his client had instructed him to say "sorry" to the victim's family for what happened "which weighs very heavily on his shoulders and will remain with him forever".
Judge Frank O'Donnell imposed a one-year sentence suspended for five years and banned Carroll from driving for seven years.