The parents of innocent hit and run victim, Joe Drennan, said today they felt disrespected by a decision by a court to give their son’s killer a concurrent sentence, meaning he will not serve any jail time for the crime.
Tim and Marguerite Drennan were speaking at a vigil, Thursday, organised by journalism students at University of Limerick, where Mr Drennan was a fourth year student and an editor-in-chief of the university’s news platform, Limerick Voice.
Last week, Kieran Fogarty, (21), Hyde Avenue, Ballinacurra Weston, Limerick, was jailed for eight years for firing a gun in a drive-by shooting. Fogarty received a concurrent (joining) sentence of six and half years for an entirely separate offence of dangerous driving causing Joe Drennan’s death and failing to remain at the scene in October 2023.
The Drennan family said they contacted the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions a number of times requesting that it appeals the sentence, on the grounds that Fogarty’s sentence for killing their son, should be consecutive (additional) to his sentence for the shooting.
Tim Drennan said the DPP told them “there is a process” that must be followed if they are to appeal the sentence, yet Mr Drennan said, “it’s alright for them to say there is a process – (Joe’s) our son”.
Sarah Drennan, Joe Drennan’s sister, said the family is campaigning for a change in sentencing laws “so that no other family goes thoroughly similar situation”.
Sign up for the weekly Limerick Post newsletter
She said: “To give Kieran Fogarty, a known criminal, more leniency, than justice for my brother, was a disgrace in the court, it was a complete injustice for us.”
“That is why we have started a petition that concurrent sentences cannot happen when a fatality occurs, otherwise it just shows that the victims and their families don’t matter — but we do matter, and so we need to change the law,” Sarah Drennan said.
Joe Drennan’s mother, Marguerite Drennan, broke down as she tried to explain how, whilst they were trying to come to terms with Fogarty’s sentencing, her family felt they had to launch an online “#JusticeForJoe campaign” seeking support for their online petition.
The petition — https://www.change.org/p/help-us-get-justice-for-joe-reform-consecutive-sentencing-laws-in-ireland — which requires 1500 signatures, asked people to support the family’s “call on the government and Minister for Justice to amend the current sentencing laws to ensure that multiple sentences for multiple crimes, particularly those involving loss of life, are served consecutively rather than concurrently”.
Tim and Marguerite Drennan said they felt they had been treated “very badly” during Fogarty’s sentencing hearing.
Sentencing judge Colin Daly initially said Fogarty’s sentence for causing Joe Drennan’s death would run consecutive to the shooting sentence, however he later corrected this.
During the hearing at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court, Tim Drennan respectfully asked the judge if it meant Fogarty would not serve a day in jail “for killing my son”; the judge did not respond and rose from the bench to his chambers.
Speaking at the vigil for his son in UL today, Tim Drennan said: “There is no respect at all to the victims, the law seems to be weighted towards the criminal, it seems that way anyway, it just doesn’t make sense.”
“It’s hard to do this, we shouldn’t be here doing this, it has been very hard to deal with this over the last week, the disappointment with the (sentence) and the lack of respect, I suppose.”
Mr Drennan said his message to law makers was that concurrent sentences are “not suitable at all for crimes committed over a period of time”.
“It just allows (the criminal) to do as much crime as you can before you’re caught – that’s basically the message I see coming out of the courts”.
Tim Drennan said his late son “did the best he could in his life for everybody, and everybody has to do their best for Joe, now”.
Horrified
Mr Drennan said they were buoyed by a large turnout of students, UL staff, including UL Vice President Professor Ann Ledwit, and other members of the public, in support of their campaign for justice.
“The response has been very good, everybody in the country, and beyond, seems to be as horrified as we were. Everybody is horrified, and it will be somebody else tomorrow,” Mr Drennan added.
The Drennan family said they are to take part in a walk to raise awareness about their campaign, in their native Mountrath, at 1pm, next Sunday.
“So we will go from there, that’s all we can do, stay going, just stay going,” offered Marguerite Drennan holding a sign, which read “#JusticeForJoe”.
