A Co Down man who was racing another driver who was killed when he crashed his car has been fined £1,000 and banned from driving for a year.
Initially accused of causing the death of Gareth Lennon by dangerous driving, Padraig Harper was about to go on trial at Downpatrick Crown Court when the 26-year-old was rearraigned and entered a guilty plea to dangerous driving.
Prosecuting KC Richard Weir told the court that plea, with no responsibility for causing the death of 45-year-old plasterer Mr Lennon, was acceptable to the PPS.
The court heard that at around 9.30pm on May 31 2018, Mr Lennon’s blue 330d BMW sped out of Hilltown, followed by the red Audi A4 being driving by Harper.
Mr Weir outlined how one witness described the cars as “flying” as they overtook his car while another described how they heard “engines revving” and the BMW “skidding” as it rounded a corner.
The court heard that a driver coming in the opposite direction had to take evasive action to avoid a head on collision with Harper’s Audi.
Although witnesses told police that both cars were speeding Mr Weir said that using CCTV evidence in the case, expert engineers had been able to estimate the speed of Harper’s Audi at 85-91mph but Mr Lennon’s BMW had been “something in the region of 125mph.”
The BMW was about half a mile ahead of Harper’s Audi as the car sped along the Dublin Road in Castlewellan and that was where Mr Lennon’s car left the road.
A Toyota driver who saw the BMW approaching as it went to overtake them reported to police how they saw Mr Lennon “grappling with the car to maintain control” and it was at that point that the BMW left the road and crashed.
Other motorists, including Harper, stopped to give assistance but sadly, Mr Lennon was pronounced dead at the scene.
Although he denied he was involved, witness accounts and mobile phone evidence led police to Harper, who is from Spelga Park in Hilltown.
The court heard Harper "has been deeply impacted by what happened”.
“He accepts that his driving was utterly inappropriate,” said the senior barrister, conceding there was no real explanation for why he decided to follow the BMW when he did not know the other man.
In sentencing Harper, Judge Geoffrey Miller KC emphasised it was important to understand that judgement was “based purely on the offence of dangerous driving and that the defendant does not bear any responsibility for the death of Mr Lennon”.
“The sad truth is that when you get behind the wheel of a car you are behind a potentially fatal weapon and certainly Mr Lennon, who was more than twice your age, tragically behaved in a way that led to his untimely death,” Judge Miller told the court.