A CO man who was high on a cocktail of drink or drugs or both when he crashed his BMW, resulting in the death of a back seat passenger has been jailed for eight years.
Handing Steven Cunningham a nine and a half year sentence for causing the death of Charlotte McHugh by careless driving while unfit, Judge Geoffrey Miller KC also imposed six and a half years for perverting justice as the 28-year-old tried to cover up his involvement by removing her body from the scene.
The sentences will be served consecutively with half in prison and half on licence.
“There can be no question that a prime motive was his determination to distance himself from the crash and being caught as the cause of her death,” the Downpatrick Crown Court judge declared.
He told Cunningham that as a disqualified driver he had “no right” to have been driving that night but in doing so, along with the fact that he was intoxicated he had demonstrated “an arrogance and a lack of regard for the sanctions of this court.”
As Charlotte’s mum Amanda Flood sat in the public gallery, Judge Miller also told Cunningham that just like his co-accused his “thoughtless and callous actions showed a disregard to this woman who claimed to be her friends.”
On the day he was due to go on trial last June Cunningham, whose address is subject to a reporting restriction due to threats on his life, admitted causing the death of 27-year-old Charlotte by driving carelessly on the Comber Road in Dundonald and while unfit through drink or drugs on 1 June 2021.
He also entered guilty pleas to driving dangerously on the Old Dundonald Road, driving while disqualified, possessing class C drugs pregabalin and diazepam, driving without insurance and perverting the course of justice.
Jailing Cunningham on Monday Judge Miller said while he had expressed remorse through his guilty plea such emotions will be “of little comfort” to Ms Flood whose Victim Impact Statement (VIS) provided a “heart felt and searing account” of the devastating impact her only daughter’s death had caused.
Earlier this year the judge sentenced four other defendants for their part in the “shameful” episode.
Two men, Charlotte’s then boyfriend 40-year-old Karl O’Neill and 34-year-old Adrian Aicken were jailed while a third man, 35-year-old Thomas Reynolds was given a suspended jail sentence and 34-year-old Tanya Galway, whose home the stricken victim had been taken to, was handed a community service order.
Turning to the background circumstances of the case, Judge Miller outlined how a taxi had taken O’Neill and Charlotte to Dundonald Ice Bowl where they got into the BMW being driven by Cunningham.
The taxi driver told police he saw the BMW “reversing at speed and doing donuts” in the car park before it left and he had to “take evasive action” to avoid a collision .
Cunningham lost control of the BMW and as the front of it clipped the verge and ran up the embankment the car flipped and rolled, throwing the unrestrained Charlotte from the backseat out of the car and onto the road.
Witnesses at the scene told police they saw her being carried to the Suzuki and heard one of the defendants saying “everything’s ok - the ambulance has been called.”
At 4.14am they arrived at Galway’s home but as Charlotte’s body was carried inside Galway did not contact the ambulance until 4.30am with the police contacted two minutes later.
“Police attended the house and noted that all were intoxicated and uncooperative,” said the judge adding that while O’Neill was found asleep in a bedroom Cunningham, Reynolds and Aicken were stopped from leaving.
When police arrived they started to perform CPR on Charlotte and she was rushed to the Ulster Hospital where she was pronounced dead as a result of multiple injuries.
Arrested and interviewed Cunningham denied involvement but the court heard that his blood and DNA were retrieved from the driver’s air bag.
The judge said while Cunningham was entitled to credit for his guilty pleas there were multiple aggravating factors not least his criminal record which contained 25 driving convictions as well as entries for burglary and drug offences.
Defence KC Brian McCartney revealed his client had a recent diagnosis of autism and a query of PTSD and suggested the case could be adjourned for further reports but Judge Miller refused.
The judge said that over the years Cunningham had been given every possible sentence by the courts including probation and community service orders as well as custody but nothing “has had any impact” on his continued offending.
In addition to the jail sentences, Cunningham was also handed a ten year driving ban with the disqualification only beginning when he is freed from prison.