Opinion

MLAs challenged on death by dangerous driving sentence

Newton Emerson

Newton Emerson

Newton Emerson writes a twice-weekly column for The Irish News and is a regular commentator on current affairs on radio and television.

Enda Dolan's killer, David Lee Stewart, was sentenced to seven years, automatically remitted to three and a half years
Enda Dolan's killer, David Lee Stewart, was sentenced to seven years, automatically remitted to three and a half years Enda Dolan's killer, David Lee Stewart, was sentenced to seven years, automatically remitted to three and a half years

MLAs have been challenged to send a message to the judiciary by increasing the sentence for death by dangerous driving.

The call has been made by the father of 18-year-old Tyrone student Enda Dolan, killed by a drunk driver near Queen’s University in 2014. Peter Dolan wants the maximum term raised from 14 to 20 years and Stormont has the power to do so.

However, such a message has been sent before. Death by dangerous driving had a maximum tariff of 10 years until a decade ago, when there was a wholesale review of sentencing in Northern Ireland.

Because Stormont was suspended, the review was carried out by direct rule ministers but it was based on extensive public consultation.

You may remember this exercise from the media focus on automatic 50 per cent remission, which the Northern Ireland Office promised to abolish for serious offences. Its eventual measures were so watered down that it would be more accurate to say some instances of remission were renamed.

Yet even amidst this cynicism and contempt for victims, the maximum penalty for causing death by dangerous driving was increased to 14 years. An identical increase was imposed for causing death by careless driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

This was based on legal changes in England and Wales. It also matched separate NIO legislation from 2004, when a new offence of causing death by aggravated vehicle taking was introduced after a long campaign by victims of so-called joyriding, again with a maximum penalty of 14 years. A consistent message was being set down in law by government ministers.

How was that message received? Enda Dolan's killer, David Lee Stewart, was sentenced last month to seven years, automatically remitted to three and a half years. His passenger received 50 hours of community service.

A term of imprisonment boils the complexity of a trial down to a single number. The judiciary has accused Northern Ireland's media of not always reflecting that. But the details of this case do not seem to have the scope to halve the maximum sentence. In fact, they all appear to be aggravating rather than mitigating.

Stewart was highly intoxicated, had driven persistently badly on the day of the crime, drove for 800 metres with the victim on the roof of his vehicle and tried to leave the scene, all of which are supposed to increase a sentence.

None of the specific reasons to reduce a term for death by dangerous driving, such as being an inexperienced driver or being distracted by a third party, appear to have applied.

Any sentence can be mitigated by an early guilty plea and evidence of remorse. Stewart confessed at the first formal demand to enter a plea but that was only two months ago, after nine previous court hearings and two years of dealing with police and prosecutors, during which he could have confessed at any time. The Dolan family have understandably questioned how this shows remorse.

Judges in Northern Ireland have unusual leeway to sentence as they see fit. Laws based on maximum terms may also bias the criminal justice system towards finding reasons to reduce terms.

This was noticed during the review a decade ago and direct rule ministers proposed to address it by establishing a sentencing guidelines council, modelling on an existing judicial body in England and Wales. It creates `starting points' for sentences, with additions or subtractions for various factors within a set range. Judges can still judge but their decisions are more consistent and better aligned to legislative intentions.

In England and Wales, where the maximum penalty for death by dangerous driving is also 14 years, Stewart's offence would have had a starting point of eight years - the highest of three, due to his intoxication and prolonged bad driving on the day - within a range of seven to 14 years, with factors like leaving the scene pushing this towards the upper end. Prison terms exceeding four years in England and Wales receive one-third automatic remission.

The proposal for a sentencing guidelines council in Northern Ireland got lost in the long debate over devolving policing and justice. It reappeared as a "necessary action" in the 2010 Hillsborough Castle Agreement but did not survive judicial hostility and the apparent indifference of the executive.

However, it remains the best chance of getting judges to hear any message Stormont wants to send. Increasing maximum terms has been tried on its own and the courts were clearly not listening.