A MAN has been sentenced to three years in prison following a collision that claimed the life of a Ryanair flight attendant, who has been described by her family as a 'special human being'.
Kieran Cooney, 31, of Blackrod Avenue in Speke, Liverpool, tested positive for cocaine after his Ford Focus collided with pedestrian Cinzia Ceravolo.
Italian national Ms Ceravolo, 36, who lived in south Liverpool, had just returned to the city from Dublin when the incident occurred near John Lennon Airport on August 22, 2022.
She was taken to hospital with head injuries but sadly died four days later.
"Drug driving and drink driving shatters lives," said Detective Constable Jack Hearnden from Merseyside Police.
"Just one drink above the limit, taking an illegal substance or certain prescription medication can slow your response time and significantly impair your ability to drive."
Texting
Ms Ceravolo was originally from southern Italy but had lived in England for five years at the time of the incident.
On the night of the collision, she had been returning from two days away with work and had arrived into John Lennon Airport on Ryanair flight FR448 from Dublin at 11.20pm.
Twenty-five minutes later, emergency services were called to Hale Road at the junction with John Lennon Airport access road to reports of a collision involving a car and a pedestrian.
Passers-by stopped to help Ms Ceravolo before she taken to hospital, where she passed away on August 26 with her family at her bedside after they had travelled from Italy.
Cinzia Ceravolo was posthumously awarded the Order of St John after her organs were donated to help others (Image: via Merseyside Police)Cooney, who had been travelling to his girlfriend's house, provided a positive roadside test for cocaine after the incident before being arrested by police and later charged.
The investigation also revealed that he had also been using his mobile phone while driving just before the collision.
He had received and read messages from his girlfriend, replying with a single-word message that was sent seven seconds before he struck Ms Ceravolo.
Cooney was charged with causing death by dangerous driving and driving while the proportion of cocaine in his system was over the limit.
He pleaded guilty and was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday.
Due to his guilty plea, his jail term was reduced from four to three years, while a six-and-a-half year driving ban was also imposed.
Mother's grief
Ms Ceravolo's family were unable to attend the sentencing but watched on from a police station in Rome.
Following her death, they made the decision for Ms Ceravolo's organs to be donated, for which she posthumously received the Order of St John.
Ms Ceravolo's mother Cinzia said that while her daughter had ultimately given life to others, the lives of her own family had been destroyed.
"We were told that Cinzia would not be able to recover from her injuries so we did what she would have wanted, we made sure her organs could give life to other people," she said.
"He [Cooney] did not only destroy Cinzia's life but that of a whole family, and many friends and relatives mourn her because she was a special human being, a generous woman who gave life to three English boys with her donated organs."
DC Hearnden said Cooney's decisions had not only claimed a life but impacted those of his own children, while handing Ms Ceravolo's family a life sentence.
"This collision goes to highlight the dangers of using a mobile phone whilst driving and driving whilst under the influence of drink or drugs," he said.
"In this case, sending a text message containing a single word was enough of a distraction that Mr Cooney did not see the pedestrian crossing the road.
"That single-word message combined with the fact that Cooney had illicit drugs in his blood cost Cinzia her life.
"Mr Cooney's young family now no longer have him at home for Christmas which is a small penalty to pay in comparison with the life sentence imposed on the Ceravolo family."
