A disqualified lorry driver who sped through a red light and hit a cyclist, leaving her in a medically induced coma and requiring five months’ hospital treatment, will not face any additional jail time, after an appeal by Ireland’s Director of Public Prosecutors (DPP) was dismissed.

Belfast-born Kevin McMenamin, who witnesses said was driving at an “inappropriate” speed, made a sudden turn through a red light, colliding with a cyclist in her sixties, in Dublin on 22 July 2021.

The 43-year-old, who was disqualified from driving at the time with a “very long history” of road traffic offences, dragged the woman, who was trapped between the wheels of his lorry, along the road for two metres before passing motorists sounded their horns to alert him to stop.

The cyclist suffered several serious injuries in the collision, including a broken pelvis and severe leg trauma, was placed in a medically induced coma and was forced to undergo major surgery, spending almost five months in hospital.

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In January 2024, after pleading guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to causing serious bodily harm by dangerous driving, McMenamin, a former Gaelic footballer who represented Donegal at senior level, was sentenced to 21 months in prison and disqualified from driving for five years.

Ireland’s Court of Appeal heard this week that the lorry driver had applied for enhanced remission, which permits prison sentences to be reduced by a third if the offender demonstrates good behaviour or is deemed unlikely to reoffend.

McMenamin was then moved to an open prison after less than two months, before being released in October 2024, just nine months into his stated 21-month term.

The motorist’s punishment, which fell far below the maximum 10-year sentence for the offence, led to an appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutors (DPP), who argued that the limited prison term and driving ban was “simply too generous”.

According to the state, McMenamin, who has 33 previous convictions, including two for drink driving and eight for driving without insurance, is “someone who drives with disregard for the rights of other road users”, the Sunday World reports.

Herbert Park Road and Morehampton Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin
Herbert Park Road and Morehampton Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin (Image Credit: Google Maps)

At Dublin’s Court of Appeal, a prosecuting garda told this week’s hearing that the female cyclist was travelling home through Ballsbridge in the south of the city when she noticed a large lorry “bouncing over speed bumps and going very fast”.

As she approached the lights at the junction of Herbert Park Road and Morehampton Road, where she was intending to ride straight through, witnesses said they saw the lorry driver accelerate quickly and drive at what they described as an “inappropriate speed”.

McMenamin, who onlookers said did not indicate, then made a sudden left turn onto Morehampton Road after the lights had turned red, striking the cyclist.

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Jane Horgan-Jones, representing the DPP, told the appeal hearing that the sentencing judge erred by opting for a sentence “firmly in the lower range” of those available for this type of offence.

Horgan-Jones also pointed out that the five-year driving ban was just one year above the mandatory minimum disqualification of four years for causing serious bodily harm by dangerous driving. She argued that the discount given for mitigating factors, including McMenamin’s guilty plea and work history, were “simply too generous”.

However, Oisin Clarke, representing McMenamin, argued that the 21-month sentence did not, in fact, represent an error and noted that cases with worse aggravating features have resulted in similar or even lower sentences.

“One could not say that this is of such divergence that it would require this court to intervene,” he said.

Dismissing the appeal, Justice Tara Burns agreed that the DPP had failed to establish that McMenamin’s prison term was a “substantial departure from the appropriate sentence”.

The judge concluded that, due to the mitigating factors, the court was of the opinion that while the sentence “might be categorised as lenient”, it was not “unduly lenient”.

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However, Justice Burns did admit that the lorry driver’s actions did not represent “a mere matter of inattention”, noting McMenamin’s “very long history” of road traffic offences and the fact he was driving the truck while disqualified at the time.

She added that 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.

Nevertheless, the judge argued that while a term of imprisonment was “most certainly merited”, a number of mitigating features should also be considered, including McMenamin’s early guilty plea, his genuine expression of remorse, a long work history, and good character references.

She continued by arguing that while the 43-year-old’s driving was dangerous, it did not involve the aggravating characteristics 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,” the judge noted.

At his sentencing last year, the court had previously heard that McMenamin was an “extremely talented athlete” who represented Donegal for three years in the GAA’s National Football League, and had trials for Aston Villa and Celtic.