{"id":14212,"date":"2024-10-15T00:15:44","date_gmt":"2024-10-15T00:15:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/tougher-dangerous-driving-sentences-taking-too-long\/"},"modified":"2024-10-15T00:15:44","modified_gmt":"2024-10-15T00:15:44","slug":"tougher-dangerous-driving-sentences-taking-too-long","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/tougher-dangerous-driving-sentences-taking-too-long\/","title":{"rendered":"Tougher dangerous driving sentences ‘taking too long’"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\"BBCBBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Niamh and Peter Dolan have been campaigning for a decade after their son’s death<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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The parents of a County Tyrone student who was killed by a drunk driver 10 years ago say a promise to bring in tougher sentences is \u201ctaking forever\u201d.<\/p>\n

Enda Dolan from Omagh was in his first term at Queen’s University Belfast when he was struck by a van driven by David Lee Stewart in October 2014.<\/p>\n

His family have campaigned over the last decade to increase the maximum sentence for causing death or serious injury by dangerous driving.<\/p>\n

Justice Minister Naomi Long said she planned to bring forward a Sentencing Bill to increase the maximum penalties in such cases from 14 years to 20 years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"DolanDolan family <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Enda Dolan had finished secondary school just a few months before he was killed<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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The bill would also include a proposal to introduce a discretionary life sentence for offenders with a previous conviction for a similar offence.<\/p>\n

However, there is no timescale for when the law will change, beyond an intention to introduce legislation before the next Northern Ireland Assembly election in 2027.<\/p>\n

Enda\u2019s father, Peter Dolan, told BBC News NI it was taking too long to introduce tougher sentences.<\/p>\n

The law in England, Wales and Scotland changed in 2022<\/a> with the maximum penalty increased to a life sentence.<\/p>\n

Mr Dolan said the justice system in Northern Ireland was \u201cnot fair\u201d and needed to change.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn England and Wales the maximum there is life for a similar crime. So why are we backward here? Why does it take forever? Why are we always behind?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike everything in Northern Ireland it takes forever and you\u2019re sort of wondering, listen we\u2019re 10 years shouting about this.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan we not get this over the line?\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Dolan believes \u201cit should be life for committing such a horrendous crime\u201d and tougher sentences would be a \u201cmajor deterrent\u201d for people who drive under the influence of drink or drugs.<\/p>\n

A change in the law would be \u201ca great achievement but I think it needs to happen sooner rather than later”, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThings are not going to change for us, you know, it\u2019s not going to change anything,” Mr Dolan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnda\u2019s not going to come home and say right, okay, I\u2019m back. That\u2019s not happening.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just one of those things. I think we would rest happier.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Peter<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Peter Dolan said his family had spent “10 years shouting” about sentencing rules<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

Carried for 800 yards on van roof<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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Enda Dolan, a talented artist and musician who was studying architecture, was walking to his student accommodation when a van was driven onto a footpath and hit him.<\/p>\n

A trial heard that the driver, David Lee Stewart, drove with the teenager on the roof of his van for about 800 yards<\/a> before he stopped.<\/p>\n

The court was told Stewart, of Gray’s Park Avenue, took 13 drinks, including six pints of beer and four Jagerbombs – a mix of a spirit and an energy drink.<\/p>\n

Traces of drugs, including cocaine, were also found in his system.<\/p>\n

He received a sentence of seven years<\/a>, half to be served in prison and half on licence.<\/p>\n

It was later increased to nine years on appeal.<\/p>\n

Following the case in 2016 the then-justice minister, Claire Sugden, announced a major review of sentencing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A public consultation was started in 2019 and completed the following year with the overwhelming number of respondents in favour of tougher sentences.<\/p>\n

In 2021, Justice Minister Naomi Long proposed a change in the law to increase the maximum sentence from 14 year to 20 years.<\/a><\/p>\n

However, the collapse of the Stormont Executive between 2022 and February 2024 has been blamed for the delay in bringing in the new penalties.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"LiamLiam McBurney\/PA Wire<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Justice Minister Naomi Long said Stormont shutdowns had delayed legislation<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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In a statement to BBC News NI, Long said she had “huge respect” for the Dolans who she commended for their “courage and commitment” throughout their campaign. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am planning to bring forward a Sentencing Bill which will deliver on a number of the recommendations arising from my department\u2019s public consultation on a review of sentencing policy,” she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn light of the Dolan family\u2019s campaign, and following significant engagement with them and other families who have been bereaved in similar tragic circumstances, this will include increasing maximum penalties for those convicted of offences causing death or serious injury by driving.”<\/p>\n

Long said in addition to raising the maximum sentence from 14 years to 20 years and the introduce a discretionary life sentence for offenders with a previous conviction for a similar offence, it was proposed to increase the minimum period of mandatory disqualification from driving from two to four years.<\/p>\n

This would rise from three to six years for a repeat offender.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe absence of a functioning assembly and executive for two years has inevitably had an impact on my department\u2019s legislative programme,” Long said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is intended that this bill will be introduced during the remainder of this assembly mandate.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


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BBC Niamh and Peter Dolan have been campaigning for a decade after their son’s death The parents of a County Tyrone student who was killed by a drunk driver 10 years ago say a promise to bring in tougher sentences is \u201ctaking forever\u201d. Enda Dolan from Omagh was in his first term at Queen’s University […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14213,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[1805,443,912,6101,6100],"class_list":["post-14212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-n-ireland","tag-dangerous","tag-driving","tag-long","tag-sentences","tag-tougher"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14212"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14214,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14212\/revisions\/14214"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}