A Co Louth truck driver has been given a two-year suspended jail sentence and was disqualified from driving for 15 years after he admitted causing an accident that claimed the life of a 12-year-old boy and led to another boy being seriously hurt.
Gerard Bloomfield, Dromiskin, Co Louth, pleaded guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court to dangerous driving causing the death of Billy Kelleher and causing bodily harm to his cousin, Bill O'Flynn (12), at Corrin, Fermoy, on February 20th, 2005.
The court heard how Bill O'Flynn's mother, Catherine, was driving her own three children and Billy Kelleher home from a trip to the circus in Fermoy and had stopped her Toyota Corolla to turn off at Corrin Cross.
Bloomfield was driving his Scania articulated lorry towards the oil refinery in Whitegate when the lorry crashed into the back of Ms O'Flynn's car, forcing it across the roadway into the path of an oncoming Renault Megane, causing a second collision.
Billy Kelleher was fatally injured while Bill O'Flynn suffered serious head injuries and remained in a coma for two weeks. He spent several more weeks in hospital and doctors are hopeful he will make a full recovery.
Gardaí said an examination of the truck found no defects and an investigation found that Bloomfield had been driving within the speed limit and had not taken any drink, but had failed to keep a proper lookout.
Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin noted that Bloomfield had pleaded guilty and that there were no aggravating factors such as speed or drink. He would have to live with the fact that his failure to keep a proper lookout had led to someone's death.
