Man who caused the deaths of three people while drink-driving faces increased sentence

The Court of Criminal Appeal has found that a four-year sentence imposed on a man convicted of dangerous driving causing death was unduly lenient. Kevin McArdle, aged 31, of Longfield, Carrickmacross, was originally sentenced at Monaghan Circuit Criminal Court in October 2011 following a collision on the Carrickmacross to Ardee road on 27 December 2010. Three people died in the incident: Stephen Connolly's wife, their unborn child, and two passengers in McArdle's vehicle. The court heard McArdle had consumed almost three-and-a-half times the legal alcohol limit and was driving on the wrong side of the road at the time. Mr Justice Donal O'Donnell rejected characterisations of the incident as a momentary lapse, describing it instead as an utterly predictable consequence of excessive drinking. The judge adjourned sentencing for two months to allow consideration of whether the custodial portion should be extended, pending psychological and garda reports on McArdle's rehabilitation prospects.