A woman who consumed 12 alcoholic drinks before getting behind the wheel of her car and later crashed causing the death of her friend has been sentenced to 4 years in prison
46 year old former model Jennifer Thomas with an address in Cork pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of Sheila Dunne last february.
Thomas the court heard drove after knocking back a cocktail drinks which included prosecco, wine and gin, in the hours before the crash.
Ms Sheila Dunne (50) who was described by her daughter as a �an amazing woman � worth her weight in gold� died following a single vehicle crash in Sarsfield Court in Glanmire in Cork last February. Poignantly, her husband Ted had died of Covid 19 in February of 2021.
The death of Ms Dunne left their two children without any living parent. The special needs assistant, was just 1.5 km from her home in Glanmire when the crash that ended her life occurred.
Jennifer Thomas of Oakfield View, Glanmire, Co Cork appeared before Cork Circuit Criminal Court today having pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of Sheila Dunne on February 11th last.
Defence counsel Tom Creed, SC, told Judge Helen Boyle that �unfounded social media rumours� and inaccurate newspaper reports had circulated in the wake of the crash. He said that �malicious rumours� had spread in Cork that the body of Sheila Dunne had been moved in the vehicle.
Investigating garda Dt Garda Mark Durcan confirmed that there was no truth to any suggestions that Jennifer Thomas or any other person had moved the body of Sheila Dunne following the crash.
Detective Garda Durcan said that the accident occurred at 7.30pm on February 11th last at Sarsfield Court in Glanmire in Cork.
Ms Thomas had been socialising with Sheila, her friend of over twenty years, from lunchtime that day when they went for a meal at a restaurant in Douglas in the city. They went to a bar in Blackrock in Cork and then on to a bar in Glanmire prior to getting in to Jennifer�s jeep.
Dt Garda Durcan said that in the minutes before the crash occurred Jennifer fell asleep before the wheel twice whilst stopped at traffic lights. On one occasion a passer by observed that Jennifer was asleep and knocked on the window of the jeep telling her to park up.
Instead she did two U turns in a matter of minutes and drove on the wrong side of the road at Hazelwood Road in Glanmire. She knocked down traffic cones as she drove towards Sallybrook and narrowly missed knocking down two pedestrians on the footpath.
Dt Garda Durcan said that Ms Thomas took a left hand bend at Sarsfield Court in Glanmire and failed to straighten up entering a grass verge. The Bluetooth system in the car automatically called the emergency services. Speed was not a factor in the case.
Dt Garda Durcan said that Ms Thomas was wearing her seat beat when the collision occurred. However Sheila Dunne was not. He indicated that the impact of the collision led Sheila, who was in the front passenger seat, to fall on top of Jennifer Thomas. Dt Garda Durcan said that roof had to be cut off the vehicle in order to extricate the women.
He stated that when gardai arrived at the scene Jennifer Thomas was asked who was driving. She said that she was and then she �got erratic� and was unable to give a definitive answer. She then said that Sheila Dunne was driving as she had �more control.�
When she was shown CCTV at a later date by gardai Ms Thomas accepted that she was driving. She also said said she had no recollection of the collision due to concussion. However, there was no medical evidence of concussion. Ms Dunne died in hospital two days after the crash.
Lilley Dunne, the 23 year old daughter of Sheila Dunne, said in her victim impact statement that she came to court with a �shattered heart� weighed down heavily by the loss of her �rock of a mother� Sheila.
Lilley delivered her own victim impact statement and said she would forever miss her precious mother whom she described as a �pillar� in the community. She said that she was speaking on behalf of herself and her younger brother.
