John Walsh was a devoted father and husband and popular UCD club rider. He was killed by a driver who was over the speed limit and on the wrong side of the road (Photo: Sean Rowe)
The woman who killed popular Irish club rider John Walsh while he was out for a Sunday morning spin last year has avoided going to jail. While Judge Martin Nolan imposed a 2½ year sentence on Marcella Duffy (62), Clairville Lodge, Streamstown Lane, Malahide, Dublin, he suspended that sentence in full.
Mr Walsh, a married father of three young boys, was a member of UCD Cycling Club and was struck by Duffy, whose car was on the wrong side of the road and who was driving above the speed limit at the crash scene.
She fatally struck Mr Walsh on the morning of Sunday, February 18th, last year as he was cycling on Malahide Rd, Kinsealy, north Dublin, not far from the home he shared with his sons and wife, Olivia, in Malahide.
Mrs Walsh’s victim impact statement to the court described her husband as a man “devoted” to his family. He cherished being a father. But now his three boys would spend “their entire lives without their adoring father”.
Duffy was charged with dangerous driving causing the death of Mr Walsh and appeared on Wednesday at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for sentencing by Judge Nolan.
In sentencing Duffy, Judge Nolan said he could find no aggravating factors in the case and so fully suspended the sentence, also imposing a six-year driving ban. He said while Duffy was driving at 62km per hour this was “somewhat” over the speed limit, which he said was 50kmph after having been lowered from 60kmph.
Judge Nolan also noted Duffy’s cooperation with gardaí and her guilty plea as well as her lack of previous convictions. He believed she was unlikely to reoffend.
Judge Nolan also said, when sentencing, the court must look for intentional factors, to determine the level of culpability. He could find none, he said, and fully suspended the sentence. It means Duffy will face no time in prison for killing Mr Walsh.
The court was told Duffy went onto the wrong side of the road and hit Mr Walsh head-on. Though people tried to assist him at the scene, and he was taken to hospital, he later died from his injuries.
Duffy waited at the scene, cooperated with the Garda inquiry and entered a guilty plea. She told gardaí she could not remember how the crash happened.
However, she had spent the previous night in hospital with her son, leaving there at 9am, before hitting Mr Walsh in her car about 30 minutes later. The court heard alcohol was tested for and was not a factor, nor was mobile phone use.
Eoin Lawlor SC, for Duffy, suggested tiredness was a factor in his client’s driving. He said spending a night in hospital was “a tiring event”. He also said Duffy was very remorseful.