A woman who pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of a mother-of-two in Cork has been remanded in custody and told she faces jail when she appears before the court again on Thursday
46-year-old Jennifer Thomas of Oakfield View, Glanmire, county Cork appeared before Cork Circuit Criminal Court today, where Judge Helen Boyle said she will finalise the sentence on Thursday
Jennifer Thomas pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of her best friend and passenger, 50-year-old Sheila Dunne, at Sarsfield Court Glanmire Co Cork on the 11th of February.
Detective Garda Mark Durkan said Jennifer Thomas had consumed 12 drinks over the course of the day and had fallen asleep twice while behind the wheel in traffic.
He said she had narrowly missed hitting two pedestrians and had eventually mounted a ditch just over one kilometre from Sheila Dunne’s home.
Thomas told a Garda on the scene that Sheila Dunne had been driving before later admitting she had been driving
In an emotional victim impact statement, Sheila Dunne’s daughter Lilley said the tragic event has left her with no parents at the age of 23 after her father died from COVID in 2021.
Lilley Dunne spoke of the devastation felt by her and her brother and said her mother embodied love, care and kindness.
She said no amount of time or apology can ever fill the hole left by her mother’s death and said no justice will bring her back.
She said she tells her brother who is non-verbal and has autism that their parents are ‘up in the sky’ when he is upset.
