The family of a 21-year-old apprentice electrician killed when a man drove a car into him at 120km an hour on the road outside a Dublin nightclub has called for the maximum sentence for dangerous driving causing death to be increased from 10 years to at least the 14-year limit applicable in Northern Ireland.
Cameron Cooper (23), of Ballyneety Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10, was jailed for causing the death of Dylan Killalee Maher on November 12th, 2023. Speaking outside the Dublin Circuit Criminal Courts of Justice on Monday, his mother Catherine Killalee said no family should feel their loved one’s life had been “trivialised” by a lenient sentence.
“Sentences need to reflect the seriousness of these crimes,” she said. “Hit-and-run incidents and dangerous-driving deaths are a serious problem in this country and must be addressed – that is why we are calling for urgent reform. We need better resources, stricter enforcement and tougher penalties to put an end to these tragedies on our roads.”
Ms Killalee was speaking after Judge Ronan Munro had sentenced Cooper to five years and three months in prison, with the last 12 months suspended. He also banned Cooper from driving for nine years, commencing immediately, but Mr Killalee Maher’s family said such bans should only come into effect upon release from jail.
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Imposing sentence, Judge Munro told a court packed with friends and family of both men that it was clear to him the devastation the death of Mr Killalee Maher had caused to his family.
He said the victim impact statements from Mr Killalee Maher’s family had been difficult to listen to, but they had made it clear he was a much-loved son, grandson and brother.
He was remembered by his family as a warm and generous young man who had looked after his grandmother since the death of his grandfather, “the sort of person who, if you met him, you would remember him fondly”.
Recalling the facts of the case, Judge Munro said Cooper, who had only been driving for a short period and did not have a full licence, had driven without insurance and had had no qualified driver in the car.
Mr Killalee Maher, who was 21 years old, had taken a lift with friends to the Red Cow Inn in order to go to a nightclub there. He was standing behind the car the group had travelled in when Cooper drove into the vehicle at an estimated 120km/h, twice the speed limit on that road. Mr Killalee Maher was said to have died immediately.
Among the aggravating factors were that Cooper left the scene without offering or calling for assistance, and then attempted to report the car he was driving as stolen.
Citing a number of previous cases, Judge Munro said in the circumstances he considered the appropriate headline sentence to be seven years.
However, he said he was obliged to take a number of factors into account, including that Cooper had no previous convictions, was a young man whose life would be impacted by his time in prison, and that he had pleaded guilty at an early stage, sparing Mr Killalee Maher’s family the added trauma of a trial.
Cooper, who was also training to be an electrician, Judge Munro noted, was well spoken of by his employer and had a brother with additional needs who would, his family said, be particularly hard hit by his absence.
The judge said, however, that while Cooper would return to his family, Mr Killalee Maher never would. He said he knew no sentence would address the sense of loss suffered by the victim’s family, but “this is not a murder case, even though I know it feels like a murder case”.
In the circumstances, he said he would impose a sentence of five years and three months, with the final 12 months suspended for five years.
Ms Killalee called on politicians to provide for greater sentences in such cases.
“Dylan will never be a case number or statistic, though,” she said. “He was our son and he was loved beyond measure.”
