THE USE of a car as a deadly weapon was deplored yesterday by a judge who sentenced to jail a 20- year-old man who knocked down a neighbour, whom he believed to be involved in his brother’s murder.
He sentenced him to 10 years in prison but suspended the second five years on certain conditions.
Gavin Guerrine, of La Touche Road, Bluebell in Dublin, pleaded guilty in November last to intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to Christopher O’Rourke (23) in April 2009.
Mr O’Rourke had been walking along Huband Road in Bluebell with his girlfriend on the afternoon of April 19th when Guerrine drove towards them at speed. He mounted the kerb and sent Mr O’Rourke flying 20ft into the air, according to one eye witness, before driving off at speed.
In handing down sentence at the Central Criminal Court, Mr Justice Paul Carney said it was “criminality of the highest end of the scale”.
“Unless we revert to caveman status, we are going to be constantly surrounded by motor cars and the community must be safe in the knowledge that they are not going to be converted into weapons and in particular, lethal weapons.”
The final five years were suspended on condition Guerrine be of good behaviour for a decade, and have no contact with the O’Rourke family.
Garda David Gilmore told the court that Guerrine harboured a “genuine belief” that Mr O’Rourke was involved in the murder of his brother, Darren Guerrine.
The 21-year-old was shot dead in 2008 and his body found in the Grand Canal.
Guerrine suffered from symptoms of post-traumatic stress and nightmares following the death, and the court heard he had a “rush of blood to the head” when he saw Mr O’Rourke crossing the road.
Following the incident, he sent a text to a friend saying, “I wrecked my car, but f**k it, it was for my brother, Darren.”
Mr O’Rourke had to spend four months in intensive care, and remained in a coma for eight weeks having sustained a severe brain injury, fractures to the face and ribs, and a severe injury to his right knee following the hit and run. He moved to Newry to live with his mother, but suffered from depression and made two attempts on his life. He died last August, aged 25, from a drugs overdose.
In her victim impact statement to the court, Mr O’Rourke’s mother Debbie Smyth said he had been “the best son a mother could wish for”. But she said when he awoke from his coma, “he was a sad man with empty eyes”.
Mr Justice Carney said he accepted the evidence in the statement, and in sentencing paid heed to the fact that Mr O’Rourke’s death “had been occasioned on the day of the incident”.
The judge said he regarded the offence as being on the upper end of the scale before mitigating factors were taken into account, and that he was bound by the policy of the Children’s Act in relation to the incident having taken place when Guerrine was a minor.
He backdated the sentence to November last when Guerrine entered his guilty plea.