Coleraine woman admits causing death by dangerous driving

Standing in the dock of Antrim Crown Court shaking with emotion and wiping away her tears, 27-year-old Katriona Kearney pleaded guilty to causing the death of Eamon Farrelly by driving carelessly on the M2 off slip of the Ballymena Road on July 8 2013.

The 42-year-old biker from Belfast died as a result of the injuries he received in a three vehicle collision involving his motorbike, a lorry and Kearney’s car at the Dunsilly off-slip on the northbound lane of the motorway.

Following the guilty plea on Wednesday Kearney, from Westbourne Crescent in Coleraine, was released on continuing bail until her sentencing hearing which was fixed for June 26.

Adjourning passing sentence, Judge Desmond Marrinan ordered a victim impact statement from Mr Farrelly’s family as well as a pre-sentence probation report on Kearney to be submitted before the hearing.

Describing the case as an “awful tragedy,” Judge Marrinan said he wanted to express “the courts’ sympathies” to the widow and family of Mr Farrelly who were sitting in the public gallery, adding that it was “vital” the case came to a conclusion before the summer break as “everyone on both sides is entitled to have some finality to this awful tragedy.”