THE THEN 16-year-old driver of a car that crashed at speed, killing his three teenage friends, had drunk 12 bottles of beer and a bottle of Buckfast wine in the hours leading up to the tragic New Year Eve’s road incident, a court heard yesterday.
The car in which the three teenagers were killed was bought for €150 days before the crash in Co Tipperary on December 31st, 2008.
Thomas Clarke, the driver of the car, now aged 18, was jailed yesterday for two years and banned from driving for 12 years.
Clarke, Silvermines, Co Tipperary, pleaded guilty at Nenagh Circuit Court to dangerous driving causing the deaths of 14-year-old Stuart Donnellan, 16-year-old Padraig Bourke and 17-year-old Adrian O’Brien at Kilboy, Dolla, Co Tipperary on December 31st, 2008. The 18-year-old also pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol on the same date.
Two of the victims’ families were present for yesterday’s sentencing hearing, where the court heard Garda forensic evidence that inappropriate speed was the primary cause of the incident, in which the car crashed into a tree and ended up in a dyke.
In her evidence, Garda Olive McNamara said Thomas Clarke bought the 1995 white Opel Corsa from a 19-year-old woman on December 26th, 2008, just days before the fatal incident.
She said Clarke had rallied the car around the forest at Silvermines and Portroe with friends, and when he was not using it, he parked it beside Silvermines National School so that nobody knew he had it.
On the afternoon leading up to the fatal crash, Thomas Clarke was seen drinking at various locations in Nenagh from about midday.
Following his arrest, he told gardaí he had consumed 12 bottles of Budweiser and a bottle of Buckfast wine over the course of the day.
The court heard the teenager was driving the car with four of his friends at about 7pm in the direction of Dolla when he overtook two vehicles on a bend on the road. He was drinking a bottle of Budweiser while driving, and one of his passengers, Kelsea Tiernan, who was 15 at the time and who survived the crash, told gardaí the teenager was “driving like a lunatic”.
One of those killed, Adrian O’Brien, told him to “slow the f**k down” but he did not, the court heard.
An uncle of Padraig Bourke, who was also killed although he was the only passenger wearing a seat belt, happened to be travelling in one of the cars Clarke overtook. Niall Bourke said the manoeuvre was dangerous and stupid, as Clarke’s car was travelling at speed on a bend and there was an oncoming car.
The court heard that minutes later, Clarke lost control of his car and it crashed into a tree.
Stuart Donnellan and Adrian O’Brien were pronounced dead at the scene. Padraig Bourke was taken to Nenagh General Hospital, where he died a short time later.
Kelsea Tiernan and Clarke were taken to the Mid Western Regional Hospital with serious injuries.
During Garda interviews Clarke admitted he was drinking a bottle of Budweiser while driving the car, and recalled that Adrian O’Brien had told him to slow down.
He also admitted to having no driving licence and no insurance.
At the end of the interview he broke down, saying how much he loved the boys and how much he was going to miss them, the court heard.
Justin Dillon, defending, said his client had co-operated fully with gardaí, and realised the “horror of what he had done” and showed full remorse.
Garda McNamara said the accused had no previous convictions, and she was doubtful he would reoffend.
In a victim impact statement read out in court, Padraig Bourke’s father Seamus said he would never forget that New Year’s Eve when the youngest of his nine children was killed.
He described his son as outgoing and friendly, and said he had only gone out to play a game of pool – but somehow had ended up in the car.
He said his wife Joan, who was undergoing treatment for terminal cancer at the time of the incident, had been in a stable condition, but her son’s death had a terrible effect on her condition and she passed away seven months later.
“Padraig’s death in this senseless accident had a terrible effect on me . . . It has changed our lives forever,” said Mr Bourke.
Mr Dillon said his client had suffered catastrophic facial injuries in the crash, over which there was little scope for further medical intervention.
He said the scars would serve as a constant reminder of the incident, which he described as the “most appalling error he will ever commit in his life”.
Mr Dillon said the 18-year-old was still grieving over the loss of his friends, that he suffers from depression, and has been called a murderer. He was told by one of the victim’s brothers not to visit the grave.
School and medical reports and letters from Clarke’s school principal were handed to Judge Tom Teehan during the sentencing hearing.
Before imposing the sentence, Judge Teehan said the case was one of the most difficult he had come across in a long number of years on the bench.
“I cannot lose sight of the appalling consequences of what happened and the serious aggravating factors should be known to all who consider embarking on such a path. The courts will not tolerate driving while drinking, driving dangerously, and driving while speeding,” he said.
He said the public had to know there was a strong deterrent, and that even the most powerful mitigating factors would not lead to the avoidance of a custodial sentence.
Judge Teehan imposed a four-year sentence but suspended two years of the jail term. He disqualified Clarke from driving for 12 years.