Melissa's death recalled in court

AN 84-year old woman has been given a two-year suspended prison sentence and banned from driving for 15 years for dangerous driving causing the death of a talented young football star near Castlebar last year.

Judge Rory MacCabe said at the Circuit Criminal Court sitting in Castlebar today that Mary O'Malley, Gortawarla, Newport, should not be driving and he would be failing in his duty if he permitted her to go on driving after the minimum mandatory four-year period of disqualification.

Mrs. O'Malley, a retired primary schoolteacher, was the driver of a car which collided with Melissa Patterson, Hollow Grove, Castlebar, while she was walking on the hard shoulder of the N60 at Breaffy, Castlebar, on July 30, 2015.

She pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death when she appeared before the Circuit Criminal Court last June.

At today's sentencing hearing, Garda John Melia gave evidence that 18-year old Melissa was hit by a Ford Focus car driven by the defendant.

Bernard Madden, SC for Mrs. O'Malley, read from a statement made by her to gardaí in the aftermath of the accident in which she said she was distressed and heartbroken over what happened

In the statement she said she thought and prayed every day for Melissa's mother, Carmel, her twin sister, Belinda, and family.

In a victim impact statement which she read to the court, Melissa Patterson's mother, Carmel, described her daughter as 'beautiful, loving, sporting with her whole life ahead of her. As her mother I feel that my life has exploded into a million pieces.”

There was no explanation for what happened, the judge stated. Mrs. O'Malley simply swerved onto the hard shoulder.

Melissa Patterson was a rising star in Mayo soccer. Along with her twin sister, Belinda, she was a member of Castlebar Town Football Club. Her tragic death caused immense shock and sadness over a wide area.