Visually impaired driver who killed woman has sentence reduced

An ex-postman with an eye disorder who was jailed for dangerous driving causing the death of an elderly pedestrian has had his prison sentence reduced by two years by the Court of Appeal.

David Byrne (43) of Sunnyhill, Castlemartin Lodge, Kilcullen, Co Kildare, had pleaded not guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of Patricia Dunne (70) at Collins Avenue East, Killester in Dublin on October 16th, 2015.

The father-of-two had also pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to dishonestly inducing the National Driving Licence Service (NDLS) to issue him with a driving licence and making a false or misleading statement while taking out insurance.

He was found guilty by a jury on all three counts and sentenced to five years imprisonment by Judge Patricia Ryan on May 11th, 2018.

President of the Court of Appeal Mr Justice George Birmingham said on Friday there were significant mitigating factors, including Mr Byrne’s “exemplary character”, excellent work record and the fact he is “highly unlikely to ever find himself before the courts”. He also noted that Mr Byrne had driven without incident for a prolonged period and this “may have lulled him into believing that he could get away with driving”.

Taking all those factors into account Mr Justice Birmingham reduced his sentence from five to four years and suspended the final 12 months. The court upheld a decision to disqualify Mr Byrne from driving for life.

During the trial, the court heard Ms Dunne had been walking home pulling a shopping trolley around midday when she began to cross the road. A van slowed to allow her to cross, but Byrne’s car then hit her and she was “flung up in the air” before the vehicle came to a stop.

Byrne has Type 2 Usher Syndrome which is a degenerative eye disorder resulting in peripheral vision loss, the court heard.

Mr Justice Birmingham, who sat with Ms Justice Maire Whelan and Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy, dismissed the appeal.