TWO MEN were jailed at Limerick Circuit Court yesterday for a total of seven years for dangerous driving causing the death of a teenager on September 9th, 2006.
Emma Woodland had just completed her Leaving Certificate and was looking forward to starting in college when she died tragically just three weeks after celebrating her 19th birthday.
In a victim impact statement, Ms Woodland's brother said her family had been given a life sentence without ever committing a crime.
Roman Andreas (23), a Latvian citizen, was at twice the legal alcohol limit and was driving at speed when his BMW ploughed into the back of a Honda Integra.
His co-accused Gearoid Cleary (25), from Ballincurra Gardens in Limerick, was driving the Honda, which then crashed into a Toyota Starlet.
Emma Woodland (19) was a back seat passenger in the Starlet and died from head injuries received in the collision.
Andreas, who pleaded guilty to the charge, has been in custody since the incident and was jailed for three years yesterday.
Cleary denied the charge but was convicted by a jury after a five-day trial last month and was jailed for four years yesterday.
His defence counsel Anthony Salmon SC claimed that his client was not responsible for Ms Woodland's death, which he said was caused by Andreas who rear-ended Cleary's car while driving at speed and also while drunk.
Counsel for the prosecution John O'Sullivan argued that after the collision with the Starlet Cleary's Honda continued on for 40 feet before crashing into a wall, which it demolished.
This indicated the high speed at which Cleary was travelling, he said.
Mr O'Sullivan said it was the State's case that both vehicles were travelling at "ferocious speed" and in close proximity to each other for a significant period of time.
Before imposing sentence yesterday, Judge Carroll Moran said he had to address the case on the basis that both men were driving high-powered cars at excessive speeds. However, he said, he would exclude the "controversial" concept of racing from his mind.
In the victim impact statement read out in court yesterday, Ian Woodland described his sister as a "happy, bubbly" girl who filled the family home with laughter.
"They [the defendants] have deprived my parents of never seeing their only daughter get married and have children. My parents will never have her grandchildren and I will never have nieces and nephews," said Ian Woodland.
"We have been handed a life sentence without ever committing a crime. We all have flashbacks of that awful night. It's like a never-ending nightmare," he added.
Mr Woodland added that after the crash, he watched as his "small family was torn apart".