A Co Antrim man who killed a retired couple after he ploughed through a red light and into the side of their car has been handed sentences totalling 18 months.
Ordering Andrew McGarrity (58) to serve half the sentence in jail and half on licence, Judge Patrick Lynch KC said the manner of his driving “barely falls short of dangerous driving”.
Highlighting that the lights turned red when McGarrity was 135 metres away, “that’s a minimum of one and a half football pitches,” the judge told Craigavon Crown Court “it’s as bad a case of careless driving that this court has seen”.
Imposing a 15 month sentence for causing the deaths of John and Sylvia McKee, Judge Lynch said that McGarrity’s actions in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy was indicative of the fact that he was fully aware that he had ran a red light.
McGarrity compounded the tragedy by trying to cover his tracks by destroying the memory card from his dash cam and the judge said that had added on unnecessary court time, delay, expense and most importantly, pain and distress for the families and friends the the “much beloved couple”.
He told McGarrity that “as an act of mercy” he would only add on three months to the 15 months for the driving offences but he ordered the sentences to be served consecutively.
At the end of his trial last November the jury deliberated for half an hour before returning with unanimous verdicts convicting McGarrity of causing the deaths of John and Sylvia McKee by careless driving.
McGarrity, from Loughview, Gawley’s Gate in Aghagallon, was also convicted of perverting the course of justice in the aftermath of the tragedy in that he destroyed the SD memory card of his dash cam, “smashing the card into pieces” before hurling the camera itself into the bushes “as far as he could”.
The couple sustained fatal injuries when their black Peugeot 108 and McGarrity’s silver Honda Accord were in collision on Northway in Portadown on August 4 2019.
Judge Lynch recounted how Mr McKee was driving and he was in the process of turning right on to the Seago Road when McGarrity failed to stop at a red light, ploughing into the passenger side of the Peugeot.
Witnesses had told the jury Mr McKee only began his manoeuvre when there was a filter light allowing him to turn right while the lights controlling McGarrity’s approach had not just changed but was a “solid red”.
Giving evidence on his own behalf McGarrity repeated the claims he made during initial police interviews, maintaining that when he approached the junction his light had been green and when he saw the black Peugeot in front of him, he “stood on the brakes” but he couldn’t avoid a collision.
During his sentencing remarks, Judge Lynch revealed that McGarrity maintains his innocence and seeks to shift blame to the entirely innocent Mr McKee whose relatives listened intently in the public gallery.
In addition to the jail sentence, McGarrity was also banned from driving for a year.