Prison warning for Co. Down man who admitted causing death by dangerous driving
A Co. Down man who today admitted causing a man’s death by dangerous driving has been warned he is going to prison, his senior barrister told a court.
As the grieving family of James Smyth sat in the public gallery of Downpatrick Crown Court, 22-year-old Lewis Burtney accepted causing his death by dangerous driving.
Burtney, from the Riverside Road in Ballynahinch, also admitted causing grievous bodily injury to four women, one of whom is Mr Smyth’s daughter, also by driving dangerously on the Belfast Road in Dundrum on 16 December 2021.
Mr Smyth was 49-years-old when his vehicle was involved in a three-vehicle collision just after midnight on 16 December five years ago.
It was reported at the time that the driving instructor had been giving a lift to his daughter and her friends when the accident happened.
Although the court did not hear any of the facts today, there was also a report from earlier in 2021 that Burtney was awaiting a date for his driving test so at the time of the tragic accident, he was an R driver.
Standing alongside Burtney in the dock was 27-year-old Rhys Bailie, from Carrigard in Dundrum. He entered a guilty plea to a single count of simple dangerous driving on the same date.
Following the admissions, Burtney’s defence KC Charles MacCreanor asked for the plea and sentence to be adjourned to facilitate the completion of a pre-sentence report from the Probation Board.
He told Judge Sandra Crawford the defence would also be obtaining a medical report in relation to the defendant.
Aileen Smyth, defence counsel for Bailie, said she was not applying for a PSR.
She said that having consulted with prosecution counsel Breige Gilmore, there was agreement that but for the offences against Burtney, the 27-year-old would have been dealt with in the petty sessions and further, that the custodial threshold is not passed in his case.
In those circumstances, Miss Smyth said while it would obviously be better for the two defendants to be dealt with together, there was no need for a PSR.
She conceded that given the guilty pleas, “there is an inevitable disqualification” and initially, Judge Crawford imposed interim bans on both men.
Ordering a PSR in respect of Burtney, the judge said she wanted to deal with the matters “expeditiously” and she freed both men on bail until 6 February.
Judge Crawford told Burtney however, the fact he was walking out of court on bail “is no indication as to the likely sentence.”
A short time later, Mr MacCreanor came back to court to ask for the interim driving ban in respect of Burtney, to be lifted.
He outlined how the defendant works 12-hour shifts in Dunmurry and effectively, used work as a coping mechanism to deal with his actions.
Mr MacCreanor asked for the driving ban to be deferred until Burtney is sentenced, suggesting that his bail could be varied so that the defendant is only allowed to drive to work and home again.
“He has been told that you will be sending him to prison in due course,” the barrister conceded, emphasising that he would still be banned when he is released from any prison sentence.
Judge Crawford said however, that as Mr Smyth’s family had already left the court, “I am somewhat uncomfortable” about potentially lifting the ban without the family being informed.
She said she would address that issue either on Friday or early next week.