Ex-GAA star will not face additional time for leaving cyclist in a coma
An ex-Donegal GAA star with a history of driving offences, who was banned from the roads when he broke a red light in a lorry and ran over a cyclist - leaving the victim in a medically induced coma - will not face any additional jail time despite an appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutors (DPP).
The Court of Appeal heard last week that Kevin McMenamin, who had applied for enhanced remission, was moved to an open prison after less than two months incarceration and was released from custody in October 2024, just nine months into his 21-month term. The maximum sentence for the offence is 10 years.
McMenamin (43) had pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm at the junction of Herbert Park Road and Morehampton Road in Ballsbridge. On January 19, 2024 he was sentenced by Judge Martin Nolan to 21 months in prison and was disqualified from driving for five years.
The State argued that McMenamin, who has 33 previous convictions including those for drink driving and driving without insurance, is "someone who drives with disregard for the rights of other road users'.
Delivering judgement at the three-judge court on Tuesday, Ms Justice Tara Burns said it had not been established that the prison term imposed was a substantial departure from the appropriate sentence.
She said that having regard to the mitigating factors present, the court was of the opinion that while the sentence 'might be categorised as lenient' it was not 'unduly lenient' and the appeal by the DPP was therefore dismissed.
Ms Justice Burns said the driving which took place not 'a mere matter of inattention' and noted McMenamin's 'very long history' of previous road traffic offences alongside the fact that he was disqualified from driving at the time. She said McMenamin was driving a heavy goods vehicle in a residential area and turned left through a red light, without warning and without noticing the cyclist on his inside.
However, the judge said that while a term of imprisonment was 'most certainly merited', a number of mitigating features were also present including McMenamin's early guilty plea, his genuine expression of remorse, a long work history and good character references.
Ms Justice Burns went on to say that although the 43-year-old's driving was dangerous, it did not include the aggravating features of speed, intoxication or the use of a mobile phone.
'We are also of the view that the sentence imposed adequately reflected the principles of general and specific deterrence,' she said.
The sentencing court previously heard that McMenamin, from Church Town, Letterkenny, Co Donegal, was an "extremely talented athlete" who represented his county for three years in the national league and had trials for Aston Villa and Celtic.
The sentencing hearing was told that on July 22, 2021 McMenamin broke a red light in Dublin 4 and made a sudden turn, colliding with a cyclist in her late sixties.
He was disqualified from driving at the time. The woman was trapped between the two sets of wheels on the truck and dragged for two metres before surrounding motorists alerted the truck-driver by sounding their horns.
She spent nearly five months in hospital and underwent major surgery for her injuries, which included a broken pelvis and severe leg trauma.
At McMenamin's appeal hearing last week, Jane Horgan-Jones BL, for the DPP, had argued that the sentencing judge erred in dealing with the matter as a case which was 'firmly in the lower range' of sentence available for offending of this type.
She said that McMenamin is "someone who drives with disregard for the rights of other road users', adding that he has numerous previous convictions including eight for driving without insurance and two for drink driving.
She highlighted the fact that the five-year driving ban imposed was just one year above the mandatory minimum disqualification of four years for an offence of this type.
Ms Horgan-Jones also suggested the discount given for mitigating factors in the case, including McMenamin's plea of guilty and work history, were 'simply too generous'.
Oisin Clarke BL, representing McMenamin, argued the 21-month sentence did not represent an error and noted there were cases with worse aggravating features where lower or similar sentences were imposed.
'One could not say that this is of such divergence that it would require this court to intervene,' he said.
A prosecuting garda told McMenamin's sentencing hearing that the female cyclist was travelling home from town through Ballsbridge that afternoon when she noticed a large truck bouncing over speed bumps and going very fast.She approached the lights on Herbert Park Road, intending to go straight through the junction and was confident that she would get through the lights before they changed from amber to red.
At the same time, witnesses described seeing the truck accelerating quickly and driving at an inappropriate speed along Herbert Park Road, before making a sudden left turn down Morehampton Road just after the lights turned red. Witnesses said the truck did not indicate before turning left.
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