A public demonstration, calling on the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to appeal the terms of a sentence imposed on the killer of student journalist Joe Drennan, is to take place in Limerick City, tomorrow, Saturday,February 8.
Mr Drennan, (21), Mountrath, Co Laois, was killed in a hit-and-run when motorist, Kieran Fogarty, ploughed into him as he waited for a bus, on October 13th, 2023.
Fogarty, (21), Hyde Avenue, Ballinacurra Weston, Limerick, driving a BMW 5 Series, filmed himself on his mobile phone driving at 122km/h in a 50km/h zone, broke a red light, collided with another car injuring that driver, and slammed into the bus stop where Mr Drennan was innocently standing.
Fogarty attempted to wipe traces of his DNA from inside the car as Mr Drennan lay dying underneath the vehicle, and he fled the scene without assisting the student journalist.
Sign up for the weekly Limerick Post newsletter
Last week, Fogarty was sentenced to eight years in prison after he pleaded guilty to carrying out a drive-by shooting in an entirely separate incident.
The sentencing judge at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court, Judge Colin Daly, initially told the hearing that Fogarty would serve an additional six and half years for killing Joe Drennan, however to Mr Drennan’s family’s dismay, the judge later corrected himself and said the hit and run sentence would run “concurrently” with the shooting sentence.
Saturday’s demonstration, to be held at Bedford Row, Limerick City, at 2.30pm, is being organised by Mr Drennan’s friend and former journalism colleague Molly Cantwell, in solidarity with Mr Drennan’s family’s call on the DPP to appeal the terms of the hit and run sentence.
The Drennan family has sought a DPP appeal on grounds that the hit and run sentence should be consecutive to Fogarty’s shooting sentence, meaning his combined sentence would be 14 and half years in prison instead of eight years.
“Enough is enough – we demand justice for Joe Drennan and for the DPP to appeal the horrendous concurrent sentence his killer received,” stated Ms Cantwell.
The Drennan family has sought a DPP appeal on grounds that the hit and run sentence should be consecutive to Fogarty’s shooting sentence, meaning his combined sentence would be 14 and half years in prison instead of eight years.
“Enough is enough – we demand justice for Joe Drennan and for the DPP to appeal the horrendous concurrent sentence his killer received,” stated Ms Cantwell.
Ms Cantwell said that in her opinion, “the sentence handed down in the Limerick court is not justice and does not reflect the enormity of the crime Kieran Fogarty committed”.
“Concurrent sentences do not provide any relief to families like Joe’s – who were holding out hope that justice would be served and Fogarty would serve serious time for taking their Joe’s life.”
Ms Cantwell described the sentence as “a slap in the face to Joe’s family, friends, classmates, and coworkers”.
She added: “Joe fought for justice, we now need justice for Joe”.
A vigil held in solidarity with the Drennan family took place Thursday at University of Limerick where Joe Drennan’s parents said they had contacted the office of the DPP to appeal their son’s killer’s sentence.
Tim and Marguerite Drennan said, that in their opinion, they had been treated “very badly” by the courts process.
“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,” said Tim Drennan.
On Friday, more than 6,000 signatures had been pledged to a petition established by Joe Drennan’s brother, Kieran Drennan, “to reform consecutive sentencing laws in Ireland for crimes involving loss of life”.
When asked for comment, the office of the DPP said it “does not comment on individual cases”, however it pointed to its website, which explains that family members of victims of crime or their legal/medical representatives can ask the DPP to appeal sentences.
The DPP has between 28 and 56 days, from last Thursday, when Fogarty was sentenced, in which to appeal the hit and run penalty.
If the DPP eventually does make an appeal submission before the three-judge Court of Appeal, the judges will read the written record of Fogarty’s sentencing hearing as well as the sentencing judge’s reasons for giving the sentence.
In general terms, the court of appeal judges “will consider a sentence ‘unduly lenient’ only if they believe the trial judge made a mistake on a legal point,” the DPP website states.
“Appeal court judges will not change a sentence just because they think the sentence was too light or because they would have given a different sentence. As a result, an appeal will only be possible in a small number of cases,” it adds.
In a video posted on X, Limerick Fianna Fáil TD, Willie O’Dea said Mr Drennan’s death was “an appalling atrocity” and that Kieran Fogarty’s concurrent sentence was “appalling” and “effectively declares Joe Drennan’s life as valueless”.
“So, I’m now calling on the Director of Public Prosecutions to appeal the sentence imposed on the individual in this case, and I think that the director of public prosecutors should immediately announce their intention to do so,” Deputy O’Dea added.
