MLA voices worry at repeated 'lenient sentencing' of speeding offenders in Northern Ireland after Conrad Doole case
A DUP MLA has said she is "deeply concerned" at the "lenient" sentencing of speeding offenders in Northern Ireland.
It comes after the News Letter reported this week that serial motoring offender Conrad Doole, who previously killed someone by careless driving, had been caught doing 103mph in a 60mph zone.
He was given a two-month driving ban and a £300 fine over the speeding charge, which was the latest of several for Doole.
His case was just the most recent in a string of remarkable speeding sentences the News Letter has reported on.
Now Deborah Erskine, MLA for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, and the chairwoman of the Stormont's infrastructure committee (which deals with transport), said: “Sixty-eight people lost their lives in Northern Ireland in 2024 in road traffic collisions.
"So many homes left devastated by loss, and it demands action from right across society to make our roads safer.
"With these figures in mind, I am deeply concerned by the lenient approach taken by our courts to serious breaches of speed limits on our roads.
"Excessive speeding poses a major threat to the safety of all road users. The failure to impose meaningful consequences for those who exceed speed limits, even more than 100mph, completely undermines messaging that is aimed at deterring such dangerous behaviour.
"I am particularly shocked that individuals with previous road traffic offences are escaping with what many would regard as unduly lenient punishments.
"It is imperative that penalties reflect the seriousness of these offences to ensure the safety of all road users and hold repeat offenders fully accountable for their actions so that lessons are learnt and it is clear that this behaviour will simply not be allowed on our roads.
"I will be working with my colleague Joanne Bunting MLA in her role as chair of the justice committee at Stormont to explore how this issue can be addressed in the Sentencing Bill coming forward to the Assembly."
Doole, 53 and of Mount Street, in Coleraine, hit Robert Callaghan, 40, in 2009 while driving a van at excessive speed near the Giant's Causeway, and was jailed for a year (reduced to nine months on appeal).
Ballymena Magistrates' Court sentenced him last Thursday to a two-month ban and £300 fine for his recent 103mph speeding incident, with the court being told he had 15 other convictions besides causing death by careless driving including five cases of speeding, reckless driving, careless driving, no insurance, and no seat belt.
Other speeding cases the News Letter has reported on in recent months are that of Larne man Andrew Robert Steele, 30, who was convicted of speeding and dangerous driving after going 132mph in a car on the A8 outside Larne. He was banned for a year.
Soon afterwards, Mark McMahon, 46, of Glebe Manor in Newtownabbey, was convicted of speeding only – and not dangerous driving – after being caught 139mph on a motorbike on the A8. He was banned for three months.
According to the government's NIDirect website, the maximum penalty for speeding is a £1,000 fine (or £2,500 if committed on the motorway). As to any ban for offenders, the website says this is "discretionary", and does not give a maximum limit.
Dangerous driving comes with a possible sentence of five years, and unlimited fine, and an obligatory ban (though it doesn't mention the length of the ban).