Letitia Barry’s careless driving ban cut to four years

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Letitia Barry’s driving disqualification for driving without due care and attention causing death was reduced from six years to four by the Court of Appeal. The proceedings were reported on 25 May 2023.

Barry pleaded guilty to driving a car without due care and attention, causing the death of John Byrne at a pedestrian crossing on Whitestown Road, Rush, Co Dublin, on 7 June 2019. She was prosecuted under Section 52(2) of the Road Traffic Act 1961.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court sentenced Barry on 23 February 2022 to eight months’ imprisonment, fully suspended, and imposed a six-year driving ban. Judge Melanie Greally imposed that sentence and disqualification.

For the appeal, David Staunton BL said Barry had no previous careless-driving convictions, worked in childcare and had excellent employment and character references. He also said there was no allegation regarding speed and that she had held a full, clean licence.

The report said a garda report identified street furniture that tended to obscure pedestrians and that the junction layout did not comply with the relevant manual’s ideal placement. Eoghan Cole BL said the trial judge considered the minimum period but regarded the driving as “grossly incompetent”.

Mr Justice George Birmingham said the statutory ban had worked its way into the sentencing judge’s reasoning. The Court of Appeal quashed the six-year disqualification and substituted four years, while the fully suspended eight-month sentence remained as imposed.