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Motorcyclist with 47 convictions who broke pedestrian’s back has jail term cut

James Doyle (37) was driving at 130km/h in 50km/h zone

James Doyle's last conviction was 17 years before he struck Emily Doyle. Photograph: Tom Honan/The Irish Times

Paul Neilan
Fri Feb 2 2024 - 10:59

A motorcyclist who struck a pedestrian after driving at speeds of up to 130km/h in a 50km/h residential zone, breaking her back and both of her legs, has had his three-and-a-half year jail sentence cut by one year at the Court of Appeal.

In January of last year, James Doyle (37) of Thomas Road, Walkinstown, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm to Emily Doyle on Cromwellsfort Road, also in Walkinstown, on April 23rd, 2020. He had 47 previous convictions at the time, including two for dangerous driving and four for the unauthorised taking of a vehicle.

The sentencing judge, Judge Martin Nolan, said Ms Doyle suffered spinal and leg fractures and spent a “considerable time” in hospital recuperating afterwards and was “just coming to terms with her physical, mental and emotional” trauma.

The court heard that Doyle had been driving at up to 130km/h in an urban area with a speed limit of 50km/h. At the point of impact with Ms Doyle he was driving at about 80-90km/h.

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At the Court of Appeal, Mr Justice George Birmingham said the court would reduce Doyle’s sentence by one year.

Mr Justice Birmingham said Doyle, a father of three and a heavy goods driver, had some “unusual factors” in his background.

Mr Justice Birmingham said Doyle suffered from ADHD as a child and had been prescribed Ritalin but after he stopped taking the medication the appellant developed “serious addiction issues”.

Mr Justice Birmingham said that Doyle then fell into a “condensed” period of offending between the ages of 16 and 20.

“Thus, it was the situation that the appellant’s most recent previous conviction had been approximately 17 years earlier,” said the judge.

After undergoing treatment for his addiction problems, Doyle avoided relapsing but had already amassed 47 convictions – the majority for road offences that included two for dangerous driving and four for the unauthorised taking of a vehicle.

Mr Justice Birmingham said dangerous driving “would not be prosecuted on indictment unless the dangerous driving had resulted in serious harm or a fatality. This case was no exception. It was one where the consequences were very severe indeed”.

“It is clear that the injured party remains significantly affected in multiple ways,” said Mr Justice Birmingham.

However, Mr Justice Birmingham said that the sentence arrived at by the sentencing judge was “higher than we are accustomed to seeing in cases of this nature”.

“In making that observation, we are not ignoring the fact that speeding involves a degree of intentional conduct or deliberation, which is not always present in other cases of dangerous driving. A rider who travels at speed significantly in excess of the speed limit intends to drive fast,” he said.

However, Mr Justice Birmingham said that nevertheless the court had “come to the view that an intervention is required”.

Mr Justice Birmingham said the court noted an “extremely positive” governor’s report from the open prison, Loughan House, and said there was “clear evidence of a life successfully turned around”.

“We agree with the sentencing judge that the previous convictions at this stage are old and that their relevance is that the appellant was someone who would have known better,” he said.

“We feel there are significant mitigating factors present in this case, including the fact of the early plea, the expression of remorse, his pro-social life as an adult and his good work record,” said Mr Justice Birmingham, who then quashed the original sentence of three-and-a-half years.

In resentencing Doyle, Mr Justice Birmingham said the court felt that two-and-a-half years was an appropriate sentence and that a driving ban of six years was to remain in place.

When sentencing Doyle, Judge Nolan said he had driven at “exceptionally high speed”.

“He should have known better. What he did was reprehensible and reckless,” the judge said.

Ms Doyle told gardaí she had left the house to go for a walk, looking both ways before she crossed the road. She said she recalled waking up on the side of the road. She said she had headphones on but they were not noise cancelling.

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