A CO Derry man has been jailed in the United States for at least 15 years after he crashed his pick-up truck while drunk leaving four school girls with life-changing injuries.
Shane Brolly (25) from Dungiven attempted to overtake the teenagers' vehicle at 70mph while driving heavily intoxicated in Pennsylvania last year.
His vehicle struck their car head-on, leaving one teenage girl suffering brain damage, while the other three sustaining other life-changing injuries.
Brolly, who had been living illegally in America on an expired work visa, pleaded guilty in January to charges connected to the crash in Northampton Township on March 27 2021.
The court heard that blood tests showed he was more than twice the legal limit to drive in Pennsylvania after he had been drinking for several hours before the crash.
He ignored pleas from others not to drive home from the bar, as well as offers for an Uber and place to stay that evening, and took his cousin's truck.
The four teenagers, now all aged 18, were hospitalised for several weeks following the collision. Last week they told the court of the devastating impact the crash had left on their lives.
The driver of the car Julia Aquilone (18), who was the most seriously injured, said she had to learn to walk again twice following multiple surgeries.
"I lost my ability to play soccer, a sport that I have loved and played for over 10 years," she told the court.
Julianna Mazzoni said she now hated the way she looks: "It breaks my heart to know I will never recognise my old self.
"Instead, I have this new face I never chose to have."
Taylor Donnelly also said that as "I lay down at night to go to sleep and the images all come back to me", while Angelina Corsino recalled the emotional turmoil her family and friends had also faced following the crash.
"I made them scared, worried and sad," she said.
"I hated myself for making them feel that way. I hated the fact that I was causing them so much pain, even though it wasn’t actually my fault and I couldn’t control it."
The US authorities said during the investigation they learned Brolly had been arrested for dangerous driving in Northern Ireland in June 2019.
He had led police on a 16-mile chase at speeds up to 114 mph before crashing and fled on foot. He pleaded guilty in court and admitted consuming six or seven pints of beer before driving.
But he fled to America to avoid sentencing and a warrant was issued for his arrest in Northern Ireland, with his UK driving licence suspended.
Judge Jeffrey L Finley last week told Brolly he would spend 15 to 30 years in prison for causing the crash.
He also ordered Brolly to pay restitution of more than $62,000 (£50,000) to the victims for unpaid medical fees.
https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2022/05/23/news/co-derry-man-jailed-in-us-for-causing-crash-leaving-school-girls-with-life-changing-injuries-2718516/
QUOTE: Judge Jeffrey L Finley last week told Brolly he would spend 15 to
30 years in prison for causing the crash.ENDS
Why can't we have sentences like this in the UK rather than endless slaps on the wrist?
Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
QUOTE: Judge Jeffrey L Finley last week told Brolly he would spend 15 to
30 years in prison for causing the crash.ENDS
Why can't we have sentences like this in the UK rather than endless slaps on the wrist?
Once upon a time in the UK we used to hang people for stealing sheep. It
was nullified by the juries passing ‘not guilty’ verdicts.
Vindictive sentencing doesn’t work, either here or in the US. Such sentencing might, however, give social inadequates a warm glow.
QUOTE: He also ordered Brolly to pay restitution of more than $62,000 (£50,000) to the victims for unpaid medical fees. ENDS
That's dirt cheap for severe injuries to FOUR teenagers in the USA.
The aftermath of the crash caused by Shane Brolly in the US.
https://focus.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/thumbor/gDVySPS0SyBWihl7QpWga8EiKqg=/fit-in/960x640/prod-mh-ireland/0afe0964-9771-11ed-a773-0210609a3fe2
The oncoming driver was lucky to survive that one!
QUOTE: USA NEWS MEDIAsetting off a chain-reaction crash.
A man who drove recklessly after a long day of drinking in Philadelphia last year will spend 15 to 30 years in prison for causing the Bucks County crash that left four Neshaminy High School students with devastating injuries.
Shane Brolly, 25, pleaded guilty in January to charges stemming from the March 27 crash in Northampton Township. Brolly had borrowed his cousin's truck and was driving without a license when he crossed into opposing traffic to pass another vehicle,
Traveling at about 70 mph, Brolly moved from the northbound to the southbound lane along the 300 block of Bridgetown Pike, which is a no-passing zone. He slammed into an oncoming Mazda SUV with four teenage girls inside, who had been celebrating thestart of their spring break. The girls' vehicle rolled several times before coming to a stop about 50 feet off the roadway.
The impact sent Brolly's truck back into the northbound lane, where it struck the vehicle he originally had attempted to pass. Crash investigators determined Brolly never hit his brakes and was still accelerating when the collision occurred,authorities said.
Brolly, a native of Northern Ireland, was living in the United States illegally on an expired work visa at the time and had been staying in Philadelphia.Sports Pub in Northeast Philly refused to serve Brolly anymore drinks, he ignored pleas not to drive home from friends and others at the bar.
He had a blood-alcohol content of 0.21 at the time of the crash, more than twice the legal limit to drive in Pennsylvania. Investigators determined he had been drinking heavily for several hours before the crash. After the staff at Paddy Whack's Irish
The crash occurred around 10:10 p.m., approximately 20 minutes after Brolly and a passenger in his truck left the bar.weeks, she was limited to eating liquefied food through a straw.
“You are a lucky man that you are not here facing numerous counts of homicide by vehicle," Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey L. Finley said at Brolly's sentencing on Thursday morning.
The four Neshaminy High girls, all 16 or 17 years old at the time of the crash, were hospitalized for several weeks and had to miss school. One of the victims suffered breaks to bones in her jaw, leg, knee, and wrist along with other injuries. For
She and and her friends told the court on Thursday about the effects the crash still has on their lives. Another passenger said she recently had a fourth surgery to repair her broken leg, which derailed her hopes to play soccer in college or to attenda school away from home.
The girls had spent the day out shopping and were planning to have a sleepover before the crash. They were about five minutes from one of the girls' homes when Brolly's truck struck their SUV head-on.personnel arrived to get the fourth girl out of the vehicle.
Brolly's passenger, Eion Quinn, suffered serious internal injuries and multiple abrasions from the seat belt. Brolly was hospitalized with unspecified injuries in the aftermath of the crash.
The three people in the third vehicle were treated at the scene and released.
Neighbors in the area of the crash heard a loud noise and rushed outside, where they heard screams and cries for help coming from the Mazda. One of the neighbors was able to remove the SUV's sunroof to help free three of the girls until emergency
During the investigation, authorities learned Brolly had been arrested for dangerous driving in Northern Ireland in June 2019, when he led authorities on a 16-mile chase at speeds up to 114 mph. The chase ended when Brolly crashed and tried to flee onfoot. He pleaded guilty that September and admitted he'd consumed six or seven pints of beer before driving.
Brolly fled to the U.S. to avoid sentencing in the case and had a warrant out for his arrest in his home country while he was living in Philadelphia. His vehicle operator's license from the United Kingdom was suspended and he did not have a validdriver's license in Pennsylvania.
Witnesses told police that Brolly and Quinn had purchased two 12-packs of beer in Montgomery County around 4 p.m. and drank most of them while hitting golf balls at a Philadelphia driving range – five of the 24 beer cans remained unopened in thetruck after the crash.
After golf, Brolly drove the two men to a bar in Philadelphia, where they ate lunch and each had at least one beer. Then they headed out to pick up another friend before going to Paddy Whack's. During the drive there, Brolly sideswiped another vehicleand paid the driver $100 not to report the incident, prosecutors said.
Brolly, Quinn and the third person arrived at Paddy Whack's around 7:20 p.m., where Brolly drank another two beers, several shots and mixed drinks, investigators said. Surveillance footage from the bar showed Brolly stumbling and spilling drinks as hewalked.
When Paddy Whack's staff cut Brolly off, he became agitated. People tried to calm him down and they asked him not to drive. One woman offered to get Brolly an Uber ride home, and a friend told Brolly he could spend the night at his home, authoritiessaid. But he left anyway.
In addition to the prison time, the judge ordered Brolly to pay restitution of more than $62,000 to the victims for unpaid medical expenses.
In the time since the crash, a GoFundMe campaign for the four Neshaminy High School students has raised more than $150,000 to support their ongoing treatments. ENDS
https://www.phillyvoice.com/neshaminy-high-school-girls-injured-crash-shane-brolly-dui-sentenced-prison-northern-ireland-philly-bucks-county/
QUOTE: After the staff at Paddy Whack's Irish Sports Pub in Northeast Philly refused to serve Brolly anymore drinks, he ignored pleas not to drive home from friends and others at the bar. ENDS
Est 2004 - that's olde worlde in the USA. https://www.hallrentalreviews.com/sites/www.hallrentalreviews.com/files/styles/flexslider_full/public/node/venue-images/2319/paddy_whacks_irish_sports_pub_welsh_rd_hall_rentals_01.png?itok=Q2QD6R9R
QUOTE: Brolly was almost three times over the legal limit. He had spent the day drinking while playing golf before visiting two pubs, and was so drunk later that a barman refused to continue serving him.ENDS
His golf "performance" must have been have been awful in the state he was in. But then WHY did he have to ruin the young lives of FOUR teenage girls - scum needs that FORTY years that many have mooted.
QUOTE: A DRUNK chav-cyclist from Northern Ireland who crashed into a car full of schoolgirls leaving one of them with brain damage faces the prospect of spending the next 40 years behind bars. All four girls in the car were severely injured in theMarch 2021 smash in Pennsylvania caused by Shane Brolly, who had downed up to 22 drinks before getting behind the wheel of a pick-up truck.ENDS
TWENTY TWO drinks and then drives off in a pick-up truck?
Let's hope that this FORTY YEARS stretch turns out to be correct.
QUOTE: “You are a lucky man that you are not here facing numerous counts
of homicide by vehicle," Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey L. Finley told Brolly
at his sentencing on Thursday morning.ENDS
That would have been at least a whole life term in jail. Maybe death penalty.
QUOTE: “You are a lucky man that you are not here facing numerous counts of homicide by vehicle," Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey L. Finley told Brolly at his sentencing on Thursday morning.ENDS
That would have been at least a whole life term in jail. Maybe death penalty.
On Tuesday, November 21, 2023 at 8:28:51 AM UTC, Simon Mason wrote:
QUOTE: “You are a lucky man that you are not here facing numerous counts of homicide by vehicle," Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey L. Finley told Brolly (the fully unqualified chav-cyclist) at his sentencing on Thursday morning.ENDSThat would have been at least a whole life term in jail. Maybe death penalty.
He's a very lucky boy.
QUOTE: Capital punishment is a legal punishment in Pennsylvania.
Despite remaining a legal penalty, there have been no executions in Pennsylvania since 1999, and only three since 1976 (all occurring in the 1990s, during the governorship of Tom Ridge). ENDS
QUOTE: “You are a lucky man that you are not here facing numerous counts of homicide by vehicle," Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey L. Finley told Brolly at his sentencing on Thursday morning.ENDS
That would have been at least a whole life term in jail. Maybe death penalty.
On Tuesday, November 21, 2023 at 8:28:51 AM UTC, Simon Mason wrote:ENDS
QUOTE: “You are a lucky man that you are not here facing numerous counts of homicide by vehicle," Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey L. Finley told Brolly at his sentencing on Thursday morning.ENDS
That would have been at least a whole life term in jail. Maybe death penalty.He's a very lucky boy.
QUOTE: Capital punishment is a legal punishment in Pennsylvania. Despite remaining a legal penalty, there have been no executions in Pennsylvania since 1999, and only three since 1976 (all occurring in the 1990s, during the governorship of Tom Ridge).
The far right Brexit swivels want to start hanging innocent people in the UK as well.
60% at the latest polls.
SWIVEL: DNA evidence means we can start hanging people again.
QUOTE: A Devon man wrongly accused of raping a woman in Manchester has spoken of his anger over a DNA mistake which led to the charge.
Charges were dropped against the man when it emerged that a DNA sample was contaminated in the laboratories of Teddington-based LGC Forensics.
The man also said he hoped that the real rapist would be caught.
LGC Forensics said it deeply regretted that forensic evidence was contaminated in one of its laboratories.
'Justice for victim'
The man, who was facing a trial accused of raping the woman at Plant Hill Park, Blackley, in October, said: "I am relieved that I have been found not guilty. But then I always was not guilty."
He added: "I am angry that I was falsely accused. I am angry about the amount of pain it has put me and my family through.
"I sincerely hope that justice comes for the victim and that the true rapist is caught."
His solicitor Philippa Jeffries, who called for a public inquiry, said the man is considering legal action.
She said: "It would appear our client's DNA was never present in the sample taken from the rape victim.
"As such our client was never implicated in this offence until his DNA was introduced to the victim's sample whilst being processed at their laboratory in Teddington.
"We remain fearful for any defendant indicted on DNA or other scientific evidence that has been processed, is being processed or will be processed through LGC's laboratory."
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is reviewing some cases in which the same company processed forensic evidence.
'Tragic incident'
GMP Assistant Chief Constable Steve Heywood said when the man was arrested he was "absolutely adamant that he had never been to Manchester so that gave us some concern".
Mr Heywood added: "We went back to the supplier who was absolutely adamant that this was not the case so we charged the man with Crown Prosecution Service support.
"This week we were contacted by the supplier who said unfortunately the sample was contaminated."
Mr Heywood said he believed this was "a tragic but isolated incident".
A statement from LGC Forensics said: "LGC has already identified the cause of this contamination and has taken steps to ensure that it cannot happen again.
"Our procedure for tracking, identifying and reporting potential contamination will be immediately reviewed and updated."
The firm declined to reveal the circumstances surrounding the mistake. ENDS
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