Youth who participated in fatal race jailed for two years
A youth involved in a 170km/h car race in which a priest and two other youths were killed on the M50 has been jailed for two years by Judge Desmond Hogan at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Ernest Gore, aged 21, from Dingle Road, Cabra, Dublin 7, pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment on March 11, 2001.
He had no previous convictions but has since been convicted of driving without insurance twice in incidents that predated this accident.
Father David Boylan, aged 35, died when one of the "racing" cars lost control and smashed into his Opel Vectra travelling on the opposite side of the motorway.
The two occupants of the speeding car, Robert Fitzsimmons, aged 27, and Jason Nugent, 19, were also killed instantly.
Gore, the then 18-year-old driver of the second "racing" car, managed to bring his vehicle to a halt after he collided with a Toyota Hyundai driven by another person.
Judge Desmond Hogan, who also disqualified Gore from driving for 10 years, said that while there were mitigating factors, such as his young age and expression of remorse, if he balanced these against the aggravating factors a custodial sentence had to imposed.
"The driving of the cars was an act of pure, unadulterated and reckless bravado with little or no thought given to either other road users and to the consequences of their actions," he said.
"I also must have regard to the manner of the driving because there was evidence of the cars weaving in and out of cars in an attempt to gain an advantage over each other and win the race.
"While he was not driving the car that caused the fatalities, nonetheless he was part of the overall scenario and participated willingly. He must share the blame for the awful and tragic consequences of that day."
Detective Garda Brendan Bergen told Ms Mary Rose Gearty BL, prosecuting, there had been a competition for some time between Gore and Fitzsimmons over who had the faster car.
Fitzsimmons had been drinking that night and both decided to have a race to decide the issue.
The two cars, a Toyota Starlet containing Gore and his girlfriend, and a Toyota Corolla, containing Fitzsimmons and Nugent, sped off towards the Blanchardstown Road South and then on to the Navan Road before they both ended up on the M50 northbound.
Det Garda Bergen said the race started at about 9.40pm and a number of people witnessed the cars hit speeds of up to 170 km/ph, using the full width of the motorway, including the hard shoulder.
Fitzsimmons lost control of his car as they were approaching the slip-road at Finagles and hit a Toyota Hyundai that contained two adults and two young children.
The Hyundai was put into a 360 degree spin and Fitzsimmons’ car careered across to the other side of the motorway and ploughed into Fr Moylan's car, which was heading southbound.
Det Garda Bergen said both cars were completely destroyed and Fitzsimmons and Nugent were killed instantly. Fr Boylan died a short time later in hospital.
Gore then also hit the Hyundai but both drivers were able to bring their cars to a halt. At the scene Gore blamed Fitzsimmons for the accident and said he didn’t know who the people in the Corolla were but they just wanted to race him.
The following day he made a statement to gardaí but refused to accept any responsibility for the accident. However, a number of days later he was arrested and admitted agreeing to the race.
Det Garda Bergen added that the race only lasted about 15 minutes but all the families involved had been left completely devastated.
Fr Boylan was the oldest of four and was the rock that the rest of his family relied on.
At a previous hearing, Gore’s mother told Judge Hogan her son had been completely changed since the fatal accident and hadn’t driven a car for two-and-a-half years.
He was very sorry for what happened and not a day went by that he didn’t think about it.
Gore tearfully told the court at that hearing: "I was only 18 and young and stupid. I don’t know what got in to me. I was never involved in anything like that before and don’t think I will ever drive again."
Mr Brendan Nix SC (with Mr Griffin Gordon BL), for Gore, pleaded with Judge Hogan to "show some charity" in the case because no member of his family had ever been in any trouble with the law before.
He was a young man who had always worked but in 15 minutes of madness he had thrown it all away.
