A young driver has been jailed for nine years for killing three people in a high-speed crash in County Louth last February.
Keith Lennon, of Dromintree, County Armagh, was driving at 225kph when he crashed into Kevin Faxton's car, killing him and his mother instantly.
Just moments before the crash on a stretch of the Dublin to Belfast road in County Louth last February, he took two short videos on his phone and sent them to some friends on Snapchat.
They showed the speed dial of the red 3L Audi A4 he was driving clocking in at 220kph - 105kph over the speed limit.
File photo of Drogheda District Court, 10-01-2019. Image: Brian Lawless/PA Archive/PA ImagesMr Faxton’s mother Mary was suffering from depression and used to take comfort from their late-night drives. Both died instantly.
After Lennon was sentenced today, Yvonne Campbell spoke of the devastation of losing her beloved mother and brother in such a senseless fashion.
“On February 29th 2020 our world was ripped apart,” she said.
“We lost two very precious people from our wee family. A loving wife, mother and grandmother. A precious son, brother and uncle.
“No sentence is ever going to bring our loved ones back to us. We have to try and live the rest of our lives with the grief and pain this individual has forced upon us by his reckless driving while using a mobile phone and driving at excessive speed.”
Bryan Magill, a back seat passenger in Audi, also died. He was just 25-years-old.
On behalf of his family, Francis Harte made this statement outside court afterwards.
“While we are disappointed with the sentence here today, he will never be forgotten,” he said. “Rest in peace.”
Reporting from Frank Greaney at Drogheda Courthouse.
