Louth crash: Keith Lennon, 21, sentenced over three deaths
- Published
Mother and son Mary and Kevin Faxton, from Bessbrook, County Armagh were two of the people killed in the collision
A County Armagh man has been sentenced to nine years in prison, with a further 12 months suspended, for causing the deaths of three people in a crash on the N1 dual carriageway.
Keith Lennon, 21, of Forest Park in Drumintee, had pleaded guilty to three counts of manslaughter last December.
He was sentenced on Friday.
The crash happened in the early hours of the 29 February 2020, near junction 20 of the N1 dual carriageway just south of the border at Carrickcarnon.
Mary Faxton, 82, and her 58-year-old son Kevin, from Bessbrook, County Armagh, were in one car.
The second man who died was 24-year-old Bryan Magill, from Newry, County Down, who was a backseat passenger in the other car.
Bryan Magill, 24, from Newry, County Down, was killed in the collision.
Last month a court heard that in the moments leading up to the crash Lennon had recorded and shared two videos via social media platform Snapchat that showed he was driving at 140mph.
A short time later he drove into the rear of the Peugeot 108 car the Faxtons were travelling in.
After the crash, Lennon fled the scene but presented himself at Dundalk Garda station the next day.
'Gross negligence... on the part of young men'
In handing down her sentence today, at a Drogheda court, the judge said this was one of the worst cases she had ever heard, "with three fatalities and showing off using social media".
The judge added that Lennon had caused terrible losses to a number of families and that nothing will replace their loved ones.
The judge also said that the case should send out a message about a recurring problem on our roads.
"Innocent people are losing their lives on a regular basis as a result of gross negligence, usually on the part of young men," she said.
'Nothing can bring Bryan back'
Representatives of both families spoke outside the court.
Bryan Magill's mother's partner Francis Harte said: "While we continue to live what will be a never-ending nightmare, we are relieved that this chapter is over.
"Bryan was extremely popular and will be very much missed. Nothing can bring Bryan back but the very least he deserves is that justice be served.
"He will never be forgotten. Rest in peace."
Mary Faxton's daughter Yvonne Campbell said the family's world "had been ripped apart".
"We lost two very precious people from our wee family.
"We now have to try and live the rest of our lives with the grief and pain that this individual has forced upon us by his reckless driving whilst using a mobile phone and driving at excessive speed."