A driver who caused a crash that killed his girlfriend was jailed for two-and-a-half years on Wednesday.
Kenneth Darby’s silver VW Bora was on the wrong side of the road when it smashed sideways into an oncoming car.
Jenna-eve Smyth, 25, had been in the front passenger seat during the accident on the Kinnegad-Enfield road in Co Meath on June 18, 2016.
Neither she nor Darby, 29, were wearing seatbelts and a forensic collision investigator concluded the crash was caused by driver error as he lost control on a bend.
The defendant, with an address at Ashfield, Clonard, Co Meath, had denied dangerous driving causing death.
Trim Circuit Court in Meath heard how Darby collected Jenna-eve from work at her family’s shop in Mullingar and dropped her home to Killucan to get ready for a night out in Enfield.
But he told gardai he had no memory of picking her up and could only remember waking up in hospital.
Adressing the court after the verdict the victim’s father, Des Smyth said: “She stole everyone’s heart and was the most lovable little girl anyone could think of. I still think she is going to come running down that hall but I know that’s not going to happen.”
A later hearing was told Jenna-eve’s mother Breda had suffered two strokes following the tragedy and died from a heart attack weeks after the trial.
Victim impact statements from her sisters were read out by State prosecutor Carl Hanahoe.
They described her as “an energetic, vibrant and lovable person who had a smile for everyone and had only seen the good in people”.
Carla Smyth added: “I believe if Jenna-eve was still alive Mum would be too.”
Judge Martina Baxter said she accepted Darby’s remorse was genuine. But she said the social care worker who helps vulnerable adults had a duty to insist passengers wore seatbelt and to drive safely on wet roads.
She sentenced Darby to three years with the final six months suspended and disqualified him from driving for 10 years.
