Teen killer sentenced for driving offences
A Dublin teenager, who is serving a seven-year term for the manslaughter of a man who was fatally shot in 2008, received a one-year sentence today for motoring offences.
Conor Duffy (aged 18) of St Mary's Road, East Wall, in Dublin, had been found guilty at the Children's Court in February of driving without a licence or insurance at Windgate Road, in Howth, in north Dublin, on March 13, 2010, which he had denied.
He had previously been banned from driving for five years. He was also on bail at the time pending his Central Criminal Court trial in March of this year during which he was found guilty of the manslaughter of Aidan O'Kane (aged 50) at Shelmalier Road in December 2008.
Mr O'Kane's house had been attacked with eggs and he emerged from his home to go after youths in the area. He was killed by a single gun shot fired by Duffy who had claimed he believed Mr O'Kane was going to shoot him.
Today at the Children's Court, Judge Ann Ryan imposed a 12-month term on the youth for the driving offences.
Garda Colm Dowd had told the court earlier that he saw the teenager driving. He stopped the car and asked the teen for his licence but was told “he did not have one”.
The defendant's older sister who owned the car was sitting in the passenger seat.
The garda had rejected suggestions that the teenager had only got into the driver's seat when the car pulled into private property.
Mr Duffy had told the Children's Court that he had been learning to drive.
After he was found guilty at the hearing on February 2 last, the court had heard at that stage that he had eight prior criminal convictions.
They included obstructing a garda, a vehicle theft related offence, possessing drugs and driving without a licence or insurance.
The teenager had been placed on probation by the Children's Court in 2009 for these offences and he had also been banned from driving for five years, in 2008.
The court had heard that he had been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and also had “borderline intellectual difficulties”.
