Gangland criminal who killed student in hit-and-run to serve extra time after 'unduly lenient' sentence
Ryan Dunne
A gangland criminal who caused the death of a 21-year-old student in a notorious hit-and-run case where he had filmed himself speeding just moments before, will now serve an extra five years in prison after the Court of Appeal ruled that his original eight-year jail sentence for this and other offences was unduly lenient.
In resentencing Kieran Fogarty (21) to a total of 14 years in prison with the final year suspended, Ms Justice Tara Burns noted on Thursday the serious impact his actions had on the family of Joe Drennan.
She described the victim as “an exceptional young man with a promising career ahead of him”, whose death had a devastating effect on his parents and siblings.
Speaking outside the court after the sentence was imposed, Mr Drennan’s sister, Sarah, said that this decision will finally “get some measure of justice for Joe”.
“Nothing can ever bring him back, but this acknowledges that his life mattered, that what happened to him was not an accident or mistake but a deliberate act of reckless and criminal behaviour,” she said.
She described Joe as a “kind, funny, compassionate” man who was missed every single day by the family. She said that the court’s decision will now bring them a “small sense of peace”.
Last January, Fogarty, of Hyde Avenue, Ballinacurra Weston, Limerick, was sentenced by Judge Colin Daly at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court to six and a half years after he pleaded guilty to charges in respect of Mr Drennan’s death by dangerous driving at Dublin Road, Limerick, on October 13th, 2023.
He also received an eight-year sentence for a drive-by shooting in June of the same year, with the sentences to run concurrently.
The DPP subsequently appealed the undue leniency of the sentences imposed.
At the Court of Appeal on Thursday, CCTV footage was played to the court by Inspector Padraig Sutton. He told counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions, Seoirse Ó Dúnlaing SC, that the footage showed Fogarty driving past a patrol car, which led to the gardaí activating their lights and pursuing him.
He said Fogarty’s car drove at speed, narrowly avoiding a collision with oncoming traffic. The garda car then lost sight of him and travelled in the opposite direction.
The court then viewed footage taken by Fogarty himself on his phone while he was driving, which Insp Sutton said indicated that Fogarty was travelling at a minimum of 100km/h. Further CCTV footage showed Fogarty’s car travelling at 122km/h in a 50km/h zone before it crashed.
After the collision, which Insp Sutton said had left Mr Drennan underneath Fogarty’s BMW, Fogarty spent 14 seconds in the car wiping it down before he fled the scene.
Mr Ó Dúnlaing said that Fogarty had taken “counter forensic measures” and was aware in quite a short time that a person was in hospital receiving immediate critical care.
He said that the headline sentence of ten years for the dangerous driving causing death offence had been absolutely correct, but the sentencing judge had not considered that Fogarty was before the court for other offences that were "not part and parcel" of the same incident.
He confirmed to the court it was the DPP’s view that, when the sentencing judge took the other offences into consideration, there should have been consecutive sentences imposed.
He said that the judge had erred in “fixing ten as a ceiling and leaving it as that,” with the error being that concurrent sentences were imposed for all offences.
Mr Ó Dúnlaing said that the only mitigating factors were Fogarty’s early plea of guilty and his young age. He went on to say that the sentencing court also looked at “his bravado and attitude afterwards”, juxtaposing these with Mr Drennan, a young man who was just starting off on his career.
For a separate offence of having drugs for sale or supply, Mr Ó Dúnlaing said there had been evidence that Fogarty was engaged in the possession of drugs for drug trafficking. He said that the headline sentence of five years, which was then reduced to three years, was too low.
Counsel said that Fogarty was also sentenced for a drive-by shooting in broad daylight in Limerick city which was part of “a feud”, during which Fogarty was the driver of the vehicle and had been consuming illicit substances before and after the shooting.
He said that the reduction from the headline sentence of 12 years to eight was too great.
Defence counsel, Séamus Clarke SC, said that the sentence imposed on the dangerous driving causing death charge was within the range available to the sentencing judge and was not a departure from the norm.
He said that when the headline sentence of ten years was reduced to six and a half years, the judge had before him all the law that he needed to make his decision.
Mr Clarke acknowledged that there was “very distasteful footage” of Fogarty before the crash, when he videoed himself while driving. Counsel also noted that Fogarty left the scene after forensically cleaning the steering wheel but reminded the court these were both treated by the judge as aggravating factors.
Concerning the drugs charge, Mr Clarke said the reduction from five years to three years may be considered lenient, but it was very close to where the case should lie.
In delivering the judgement of the court, Ms Justice Burns noted that Fogarty had been 19 at the time of the offence and had 46 previous convictions.
She noted that he had driven an entire distance of 3.5km, during which time he drove at excessive speed in a 50km/h zone, where there was a continuous white line through a built-up area.
She said the court had seen the damage caused to both Fogarty’s car and a car he crashed into, noting that he had five outstanding bench warrants at the time.
Ms Justice Burns noted the serious impact the loss of Mr Drennan had, as he was an exceptional young man with a promising career ahead of him, whose death had a devastating effect on his parents and siblings.
She said the court would quash the sentences imposed on the charges relating to the firearms offence, the dangerous driving and the drugs and would resentence Fogarty.
On the drugs charge, Ms Justice Burns said the court would set a headline sentence of six years, reduced to four years.
On the firearms charge, the court set a headline sentence of 12 and a half years, reduced to eight years.
For dangerous driving causing death, the headline sentence was ten years, reduced to eight years. This sentence was to commence at the expiration of the sentence imposed on the firearms charge.
Considering the totality principle, Ms Justice Burns said the court would reduce both the sentence on the firearms charge and the sentence on the dangerous driving by one year to seven years each. She said the court would further suspend the final 12 months of the overall sentence.
This made a total sentence of 14 years with the final year suspended.
Fogarty was also disqualified from driving for 20 years.
