Two jailed over fatal Wexford crash that occurred when driver and rear seat passenger swapped seats while moving
A fatal accident led to jail sentences for two of the occupants of the car in which the late Sean Hurley was travelling in the early house of April 10 in 2021.
The uninsured BMW, which carried no registration plates, demolished walls at the entrance to two houses beside the N25 in Drinagh.
Two women and one man survived the crash but front seat passenger Mr Hurley suffered catastrophic injuries from which he never recovered.
Wexford Circuit Court heard that the ill-fated vehicle had been driven at high speed after coming to the attention of gardaí that night.
Judge James McCourt was also told that the crash came seconds after the driver and a rear seat passenger swapped as the car was in motion.
Before the court were Sandra Lawlor (30) from Ballyelland, Davidstown, Enniscorthy, and Patrick O’Reilly (22) of Rosemount, Drinagh, Wexford.
Both pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment by exchanging places while moving, causing the death of Sean Hurley.
ADVERTISEMENT
Members of the dead man’s family, led by his mother Sharleen were present for the sentencing hearing and his sister Shauna delivered a victim impact statement.
A summary of what happened on the Rosslare to Wexford road was provided by Garda Sergeant David Ferriter.
He explained that the silver BMW first came to the attention of a garda on patrol near Tagoat shortly after half past one on the morning in question.
The late Sean Hurley.
He noticed that it had no number plate and, when he attempted to engage the driver, it pulled away, heading north.
He followed at a safe distance and two of his colleagues joined the pursuit from Tagoat.
They lost sight of the car for a while at Killinick but re-established contact as it was seen swerving on the road through the Kilmore and Piercestown junctions.
The gardaí reckoned that the crash occurred in Drinagh at 1.40 a.m.
ADVERTISEMENT
It appeared the ill-fated motor had careered on to the wrong side of the road, across the hard shoulder and into the walls.
It ended up on the rebound in the south-bound lane, with Ms Lawlor at the wheel.
Sean Hurley was slumped beside her, bleeding from the nose, later to be pronounced dead after his arrival at Wexford General.
Ms Lawlor had to be cut from the wreckage by the emergency services. She had sustained multiple fractures.
The two passengers in the rear were less drastically affected.
Defendant Patrick O’Reilly told the officers at the scene that he was going to visit his grandmother.
Also present was Kaylie Cullen whose injuries were described as not serious.
ADVERTISEMENT
In a statement made afterwards, Ms Cullen revealed that it was O’Reilly who had been driving originally.
He was disqualified at the time and it was his idea that he should swap with Ms Lawlor though she too was banned.
Ms Cullen reckoned that the crash came about ten seconds after the change was made.
She stated that O’Reilly threatened Ms Lawlor and that there was pushing and shoving in the car in the lead up to the collision with the walls.
The scene, described as a sweeping left hand bend with no street lighting and not particularly dangerous, was examined.
The BMW appeared to have been travelling at a speed in excess of 100 km/h when it came to grief.
When Garda Nikita Guidera approached Ms Lawlor in hospital that night, the injured woman gave no response when asked to provide a blood sample.
ADVERTISEMENT
The sergeant believed that she went on to make a full recovery.
He was also aware that she had since given birth to a baby daughter.
She was the registered owner of the BMW, which was originally registered in Donegal in 2002.
At the time of the accident 19 years later it was on the road with significantly under-inflated tyres.
Delivering the victim impact statement from the witness box, Sean Hurley’s sister Shauna recalled his cheeky smile. He put everyone before himself, she said, summing up the deceased as a gentle soul who would never be forgotten.
She added that she and her mother had undergone counselling in the wake of his death.
Appearing for Patrick O’Reilly, barrister Diarmuid Small confirmed that his client and Hurley were best friends.
ADVERTISEMENT
Counsel passed on the defendant’s sincere and abject apology to the Hurley family for what happened.
O’Reilly was described as a father of one who had turned to drugs after the death of his father.
On behalf of Sandra Lawlor, barrister Geraldine Small similarly offered an unreserved apology for her involvement and acknowledged the utter devastation of the Hurley family.
Ms Small confirmed that her client’s baby girl was born in April of this year.
It was revealed that Ms Lawlor had recently been attending AA meetings and bereavement counselling.
She was diagnosed as bi-polar and had been labouring under drug addiction for a number of years.
At the end of what he called a tragic case, Judge McCourt added his condolences to the family of the victim.
ADVERTISEMENT
He felt that there had been an element of coercion in the decision of Ms Lawlor to take to the wheel of the BMW.
She was sentenced to three years imprisonment, the last six months suspended.
Turning to O’Reilly the court noted that he had been on a spree of drugs and alcohol for a couple of days leading up to the accident at Drinagh.
The judge had no doubt but that he was the principal mover in the decision to swap drivers.
He noted that Ms Lawlor must have been aware that there was a hatchet in the car as he insisted on handing over control of the vehicle to her.
He was sentenced to jail for four years.
Both defendants were banned from holding a driving licence for four years.