THE nephew of a Co Armagh man hit by a drink driver has said his family has received "no justice" after the driver avoided a jail sentence.
The body of David James Shields (52) was found on Shillinghill Road in Markethill in 2016.
Newry Crown Court heard Mr Shields had left a local bar to walk home at about 10pm on June 13 2016 but was not found until 7am the following morning.
John McBurney (43), from Green Park Avenue, Markethill, was driving the car that struck Mr Shields.
The pair had been drinking in the same bar on the night of June 13.
McBurney was originally charged with causing death by careless driving while unfit.
However, the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) instead accepted his guilty pleas to driving while unfit through drink or drugs and failing to stop, remain and report an accident.
McBurney, who has two previous drink-driving convictions, was handed a three-year driving ban and ordered to complete 200 hours of community service by a judge at Newry Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.
Judge Gordon Kerr QC said there was evidence that Mr Shields "was lying on the road at the time of the impact that caused his death".
Mr Shields' nephew David Brooks, who described him as a "second dad", said the community service order was a "rap on the knuckles".
"It's just a bit hard to take in," he told Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme.
Mr Brooks added: "What he (McBurney) received - the 200 hours in the community and the three-year driving ban - I think our justice system in Northern Ireland is absolutely appalling.
"There is no justice there whatsoever for our family."
He said McBurney was "well-known" by his family.
"We all ran about together. We played football together," he said.
Mr Brooks said the crash was "a blatant hit-and-run".
"If you hit something on the road, you stop no matter what it is. You stop and see what it is," he said.
"In this case he had drink, panicked, and drove on."
Mr Brooks said the exact circumstances of his uncle's death are still unclear.
"He could have been propped up against a bank maybe taking a breather, maybe he had too much drink, maybe he seen the car coming and maybe he staggered to get up to move himself and fell into the car - we don't know," he said.
"Nobody knows, only the man in question that hit him."
Mr Brooks said relations in the community "will never be the same" following the fatal crash.
