The Donegal driver responsible for the deaths of eight people in the State’s worst ever road crash has landed a lorry driving job in the North.
Crime World reports that Antrim based Creagh Concrete posted an image (main pic) of Buncrana man Shaun Kelly standing in front of his new truck wishing him ‘safe travels’ and ‘many happy miles ahead’ on Instagram earlier this week.
However, the company removed the image and the message from its official Instagram account after Crime World emailed them to ask whether they were aware of Kelly’s past conviction.
According to Crime World, a post accompanying the Creagh Concrete Instagram message read: “It’s always an exciting time when a new lorry arrives. Shaun Kelly’s new lorry and trailer are all loaded up and ready to head over to England to start installing Spantherm [an insulated concrete flooring system] right across the UK. Wishing Shaun safe travels and many happy miles ahead.”
Shaun Kelly also featured on the front page of today’s Sunday World.
Kelly was jailed for eight years, with four suspended, by the Court of Appeal in May 2015 after it overturned an original two-year jail term, finding it was too lenient.
Kelly, of Hill Road, Ballymagan, Buncrana, had pleaded guilty, after a jury had been sworn, at Letterkenny Circuit Criminal Court to dangerous driving causing the deaths of eight men on a road between Clonmany and Buncrana on July 11, 2010. He also had a previous conviction for dangerous driving.
The eight men who died in the crash included Hugh Friel (66) who was in a separate car on his way home from bingo. The seven passengers in Kelly’s car who lost their lives were: Eamon McDaid (22); Mark McLaughlin, (21); Paul Doherty (19); Ciaran Sweeney (19); PJ McLaughlin (21); James McEleney (23) and Damien McLaughlin (21).
The Court of Appeal set aside Kelly’s original sentence following a successful application by the Director of Public Prosecutions on grounds that it was “unduly lenient”.
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Giving background to the incident which occurred on the night of the World Cup final in 2010, Mr Justice Birmingham said Kelly got into his black Volkswagen Passat along with seven passengers.
There was evidence that the car sped out of Clonmany at high speed with a good deal of noise, screeching of tyres and the smell of burning rubber. None of the passengers in Kelly’s car were wearing seatbelts.
Mr Justice Birmingham said it was an “appalling case” with “very high” culpability.
It was not a single act of dangerous driving such as “taking a bend at too great a speed or overtaking when it was not safe to do so” but “a case of sustained dangerous driving.”
Read the full report on www.crimeworld.com or in today’s Sunday World.