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This drink-driver hasn't been locked up for long enough.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/ ... 480238.ece


Driver is jailed for running pair over
Saturday, March 01, 2008

A drink-driver convicted of mowing down a woman was yesterday given a four-year jail sentence after a judge described him as a "disinhibited fool".

But Francis Paul McCormick will only spend two-and-a-half years behind bars, with a further 18 months to be served on probation.

The 29-year-old Coleraine man — who had been drinking heavily on the day of the incident — was also banned from driving for seven years.

McCormick was accused of attempting to kill Andrea Hall and her fiance Patrick McGowan by running them over with his car after an incident in October 2005.

But last month a jury acquitted the vehicle recovery worker of attempted murder and found him guilty of the lesser charge of GBH, and of dangerous driving.

Mr Justice McLaughlin yesterday said there was "a degree of surprise" at the verdict.

"If the jury had convicted you of attempted murder, you were for the high jump. They took a very merciful view, in my opinion, of your behaviour."

The judge told McCormick — whose defence during the trial was that he was too drunk to remember the incident — that he "didn't believe a word of it".

"He must think I came up the Bann in a bubble if he thinks I'm going to believe that," he added.

McCormick's mother Paula and sister Pauline also appeared in the dock yesterday after previously pleading guilty to assaulting Mr McGowan on the night of the incident. Both were bound over for £500 for 12 months.

Mr McLaughlin told the court that Miss Hall and Mr McGowan were "entirely innocent, law-abiding, decent, honest people" who had encountered "the full flow of the McCormicks behaving like disinhibited fools".

Sentencing McCormick to four years, the judge said he was "constrained by legislation" as the maximum penalty for GBH was seven years.

Imposing a seven-year driving ban — and a concurrent one-year jail term for dangerous driving — Mr McLaughlin referred to McCormick's current job.

"You have destroyed this business by your behaviour on that night," the judge said.

Speaking outside the court, Andrea Hall said she was pleased with the outcome.

She said: "I'm just glad it's over to tell the truth. I'm happy enough with four years."

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