A father of four who drove at speeds of more than 150kmh as it followed a car that was involved in a fatal crash that claimed the lives of two teenagers as they made their way to a Debs ball in Monaghan has been handed an 18 month suspended prison sentence.
The Romanian national appeared in court today charged in relation to five counts of dangerous driving in Co Monaghan.
The dangerous driving counts centre around July 31st 2023. One of the counts are at Legnakelly, Clones, Co Monaghan where on the same evening two teenagers lost their lives. 46 year old Alin Sorin Gateu with an address of 4 Carn Heights, Clones was driving a BMW car which left the Diamond in Clones on July 31st 2023.
Mr Gateu had two passengers in the vehicle, his son who was 19 at the time and another teenager who was 18 years. He was driving both of them to the debs ball at the Westenra Arms Hotel in Monaghan on that evening.
The Romanian father of four was travelling behind another BMW car that eventually crashed and left two teenagers dead.
That vehicle was driven by 62 year old Anthony McGinn of Drumloo, Newbliss who pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the deaths of 17 year old Kiea McCann and 16 year old Dlava Mohammed. Inspector Ann-Marie Lardner told the court today that the weather report at the time had been raining shortly before the incident.
The court was shown footage of dash cam that was voluntary supplied by Mr Gateu. The footage showed Mr Gateau's BMW travelling at speed behind Mr McGinn's white BMW prior to that fatal collision.
Inspector Lardner revealed that following forensics of the dash cam footage, Mr Gateu was travelling at a minimum speed of 145km and a maximum speed of 151km at the time
She told Judge Raymond Finnegan that these speeds were almost double the speed limit of 60km and 80km that he had travelled on when travelling to Monaghan. In the video shown to the court, water running down the windscreen and heavy traffic was evident in the piece that was shown from the Circle K to the New Line junction on the Monaghan Road.
The court also head that the accused was not facing any other charges. Defence solicitor, Catherine Taaffe said the subsequent event that occurred saw the accused volunteer the dash cam footage after he witnessed a serious event ahead of him. She said the evidence before the court was dash cam footage which highlights speed.
Judge Raymond Finnegan said the calculations of the speed that Mr Gateu was travelling at were fact. Defence solicitor, Catherine Taaffe pointed out that his dash cam helped the state in bringing someone to justice for a much serious crime.
She pointed out that the charges that were before the court were for speed and had no bearing on the serious fatal collision that occurred that evening.
The court was told that the father of four had shown good levels of cooperation during the investigation.
Ms Taaffe told the court that cars belonging to Mr Gateu and his son had been targeted and that Mr Gateu has a live threat on his life at present.
Inspector Ann Marie Lardner said she was not aware of a live threat and that no such matter was currently under investigation.
Judge Finnegan asked if the family believe the two cars were speeding. Frankie McCann who present with his wife Teresa spoke up and said that he didn't F***ing help.
He was told by Judge Finnegan if he wouldn't be quite he would be asked to leave the court and Mr McCann decided to leave the court room.
Copies of comments that were made about the father of four on Facebook were shown to the district judge who described them as very sinister.
Judge Finnegan said he understood the McCann's were upset and angry. He said the DPP has directed me in this way over the dangerous driving charges and that he can only act in what's before him.
Judge Finnegan told the defence solicitor one factor we can't lose sight of was the way your client drove, he clearly put passengers in the car and his own life at risk that day.
Judge Finnegan gave three, 6 month suspended sentences and disqualified the 46 year old factory worker from driving for four years.
