Jailed for seven years for dangerous driving causing deaths of two girls

Debs crash horror recalled in court

A 61-year-old Monaghan man, who admitted causing the deaths of two teenage girls while driving them to a debs ball in July 2023, has been jailed for seven years.

Anthony McGinn of Drumloo, Newbliss, Co Monaghan, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the deaths of Kiea McCann (17) and her friend Dlava Mohamed (16), and to dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm to Avin Mohamed, Dlava’s sister.

The horror crash occurred on the N54 at Legnakelly, a few miles outside Clones, shortly after 6:30pm on July 31, 2023, when the BMW car being driven by McGinn lost control and struck a tree.

The court heard forensics showed it was travelling at over 120km per hour at the point of impact. Four teenagers who were attending Largy College in Clones were being driven to their debs at Monaghan town’s Westenra Hotel.

During an emotionally charged two-hour hearing at Monaghan Circuit Criminal Court last Wednesday [May 7], a number of family members of the deceased girls left the courtroom before distressing dashcam footage of the accident was shown. Judge John Aylmer was told by Garda Inspector Ann Marie Lardner that forensic investigations had determined that the BMW reached a speed of over 151km/h shortly before the crash and had been doing 121km/h at the point of impact with the base of a tree.

Insp Lardner confirmed to Frank Martin BL, prosecuting, that the speed limit on that particular stretch of roadway was 80km/h. Mr McGinn’s average speed between Clones and the scene of the collision had been calculated at 138.85km/h.

The inspector also agreed that speed was the primary cause of the accident.

Insp Lardner said the defendant had four young passengers in the vehicle. All were injured in the collision, and McGinn himself had been airlifted from the scene and was in a coma for about eight weeks.

Victim impact statements read to the court underlined the ongoing distress, pain and loss experienced by members of both girls’ families.

In the past few minutes, at Monaghan Circuit Court, Judge Aylmer pointed to aggravating factors in the case with the speed “almost twice the speed limit".

He further pointed to the wet road, the deaths, the serious injuries of Dlava's sister Avin and the devastating effects on the families.

Judge Aylmer put the headline sentence at nine years.

However, mitigating circumstances in the case included that there were no alcohol or drugs in McGinn's system, no disrepair to the vehicle, his age, that he was fully co-operative as far as his memory would allow, his early guilty plea and his display of remorse through the Probation Service.

He mitigated the sentenced down to seven years in prison.

More to follow.

READ MORE FROM LAST WEEK'S HEARING

Deaths of Clones schoolgirls recalled in emotionally-charged court hearing