Family calls for tougher sentences as hit/run death driver gets 4 years

14-yr max term urged as Dylan mum left with 'void that can never be filleď

- CLAIRE HENRY and ISABEL HAYES

A YOUNG man driving at twice the speed limit when he fatally struck a 21-year-old, before fleeing the scene, has been jailed for four years.

Cameron Cooper, 23, was jailed for the hit-and-run death of Dylan Killalee Maher at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court yesterday.

After the sentence was handed down, Mr Killalee Maher's mother Catherine Killalee broke down, saying: “I didn't get to say goodbye to my son.”

Speaking outside court, the late man's mother called for the maximum sentence for dangerous driving causing death to be raised to at least 14 years, in line with Northern Ireland.

Cooper, of Ballyneety Road, Ballyfermot, west Dublin, called emergency services in the wake of the fatal crash.

But instead of seeking help, he falsely told gardai his car had been stolen in an attempt to avoid blame, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard.

He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death, driving with no insurance, making a false report of a crime and failing to offer assistance to avoid criminal or civil prosecution at locations on the Naas Road and Turn-pike Road on November 12, 2023.

He has no previous convictions.

Passing sentence, Judge Ronan Munro said it was difficult to put into words the devastation inflicted on the family of Mr Killalee Maher, an apprentice electrician.