A CO Tyrone man who was two-and-a-half times the drink-drive limit when he killed a well-known Donegal GAA fan in a head-on collision has been jailed.
Judge Paul Ramsey told 50-year-old Paul Nicholl on Tuesday that his history of alcohol abuse, which plagued him all his life, had led to the ultimate horror of causing the death of another human being.
The Omagh Crown Court judge said while he could accept his early guilty plea, his remorse, lack of previous driving offences and the fact he himself was injured, he could not overlook "the very high reading" of alcohol.
He was ordered to serve two-and-a-half years in prison, followed by the same period on licence, and banned from driving for six years.
Nicholl, of Carnkenny Road, Newtownstewart, had pleaded guilty to causing the death of 62-year-old Patsy McCroary - known affectionately as 'Donegal Patsy' - by careless driving with excess alcohol and causing grievous bodily injury to his wife and children.
Judge Ramsey said he had been given "eloquent, moving and heart-rending" victim impact reports from the family which spoke volumes of Mr McCroary - originally from Upper Art, Castlefin but living in Castlederg - both as a husband and father.
The court heard Nicholl lost control of his Suzuki car after hitting a kerb and careering into a car carrying Mr McCroary, his wife Geraldine and children Padraig and Samantha in January 2014.
They were travelling towards Strabane on the Melmount Road between Sion Mills and Victoria Bridge when Nicholl crossed into their lane.
He told police he had gone to a bar that morning to have a couple of pints and on his way home stopped at a shop and bought a 12-pack of beer "but had no recollection after that''.
