The Court of Appeal reduced Sharon Healy’s driving disqualification from 10 years to five after allowing her appeal against the length of the ban. The court said the suspended prison sentence imposed with it had to be considered as part of the overall punishment.
Healy had pleaded guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court on 12 November 2015 to careless driving causing death. She was sentenced on 25 February 2016 to 12 months’ imprisonment, suspended in full for 12 months on conditions, and disqualified from driving for 10 years from 1 March 2016. Her appeal concerned only the disqualification.
The collision happened on 21 December 2014 on the Watergrasshill to Rathcormac Road in County Cork. The judgment said Healy emerged from a minor road onto a major carriageway and into the path of motorcyclist Sean Coleman. He was travelling below the speed limit and on his correct side of the road. He braked, came off his motorcycle and was fatally injured. The court said he was entirely innocent and had not contributed to the accident.
The sentencing judge had placed Healy’s carelessness at the higher end of the scale for the offence. The Court of Appeal noted the absence of aggravating factors including speed, alcohol, a defective vehicle or previous convictions. Healy’s counsel had also cited her guilty plea and remorse, the loss of her job because she could not drive to work, depression and likely future psychological effects, and the practical difficulties of caring for two teenage children without transport.
The appeal court said the 10-year ban could not be considered separately from the suspended prison sentence, which it described as a significant punishment in itself. It also said sentencing courts must weigh the effect of disqualification on the convicted person alongside the seriousness of the offence, its effect on victims, public safety and whether it is a first offence.
The judgment described Healy as living in a rural setting with two teenage children, while her husband frequently worked away for weeks. It said she was effectively the family’s only driver for much of the time, making a prolonged ban particularly onerous.
The court found that the sentencing judge had erred in imposing a 10-year disqualification, given the lack of aggravating factors and Healy’s personal circumstances. It set the ban at five years from 1 March 2016. In doing so, it took account of her one-year suspended sentence and that she had met its conditions throughout the relevant period. The court did not disturb that sentence.