Dangerous drivers given ‘lenient’ sentence in third of cases
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Dangerous drivers who caused death or serious injury were given a lenient sentence in over a third of cases finalised between 2010-14, the Irish Independent reports.
The figure is included in an unpublished report prepared for a Courts Service of Ireland sentencing committee and seen by the newspaper.
It examines 60 cases finalised in the District Court between January 2010 and May 2014 and concludes that the outcome in 35 per cent of these cases was a “lenient” sentence of up to one year in prison.
Just 22 per cent of sentences were “severe” - ranging from four to seven years in prison. The average is less than three-and-a-half years.
The maximum prison term for dangerous driving causing death or serious injury was increased from five years to 10 in 1994.
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