Jail warning for Ballyclare man who injured two children by dangerous driving

A Ballyclare man convicted of injuring two children by dangerous driving was warned today (Monday) that he is going to jail.
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The Antrim Crown Court jury deliberated for just 20 minutes before they returned unanimous guilty verdicts against 45-year-old James Lavery, convicting him on two counts of causing grievous bodily injury by dangerous driving.

He had admitted that his driving on 3 September 2018 had been careless but having heard evidence that his Suzuki jeep mounted the kerb on the Belfast Road in Antrim, the jury decided that his standard of driving “fell far below that which would be expected of a careful and competent driver”.

The victims, a then aged 15-year-old girl and her five-year-old nephew, were walking when they struck by the jeep, leaving her in a critical condition and the little boy suffering from multiple fractures to his collar bone, ankle and foot.

Following the jury’s verdicts defence counsel Mark Farrell said although he had warned Lavery, from Clare Heights, about the sentencing guidelines and asked for him to be freed, that was more to “allow him to put his affairs in order and to speak to his employer”.

Prosecuting counsel Suzanne Gallagher said given the convictions Lavery now faces an automatic driving ban and although Judge Patricia Smyth freed Lavery until 26 May pending the completion of a pre-sentence probation report, she warned him that “a custodial sentence is inevitable”.