A DRUNK driver who killed an elderly pedestrian and injured two gardaí has been sentenced to 240 hours community service and disqualified from driving.
Adrian Nestor, 44, from Keamsella, Kilcolgan, pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol and causing the death of 66-year-old Liam McDonnell in Co. Galway in February 2016.
He also pleaded guilty to causing serious bodily harm to Garda Sharon Casserly in the crash, which occurred near Ardrahan.
A second officer, Garda Peter Murtagh, sustained a broken leg and cuts to his head.
Galway Circuit Criminal Court heard that Mr McDonnell had been reported missing from a nursing home in the area the night before his death.
The pensioner had just been found on the N18 road by two gardaí in the early hours of February 1 when they tried to get him into their patrol vehicle.
All three were then struck by an Audi driven by Nestor at around 12.30am.
Mr McDonnell was pronounced dead at the scene while both gardaí were taken to hospital.
The court was told that Nestor had a blood alcohol level of 272mg at the time of the crash – over five times the legal limit for driving in Ireland.
An impact statement from Mr McDonnell's wife was read in evidence, in which she sought clemency for Nestor’s family, saying a jail sentence would not bring back her husband.
Judge Rory McCabe described her plea for clemency as “extraordinary”.
Nestor, who was married with two children and had no previous convictions, apologised in court to the family of the deceased, as well as the gardaí he seriously injured.
Judge McCabe, citing Nestor’s previous good record, remorse and post-traumatic stress disorder, imposed 240 hours of community service in lieu of a four-year prison sentence.
A €1,000 fine and four year driving disqualification was also imposed.
