The Buncrana man jailed for killing eight people in Ireland’s worst ever single road traffic crash has been on temporary release from prison.
Shaun Kelly was initially jailed for two years when he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the deaths of seven of his friends and a pensioner in July 2010.
However, the Appeal Court decided that sentence was too lenient and added another two years to the 27 year old’s sentence in December, 2015.
Kelly, from Ballymagan in Buncrana, is not due for release until December 2018 but could be released at the end of this year with 25% remission for good behaviour.
Seven of those who died were young men aged between 19 and 23 who were passengers in Kelly’s car.
The eighth was a 66-year-old man on his way back from bingo.
Now relatives of some of those killed in the horror smash have been left shocked after the young truck-driver was granted temporary release from jail.
These pictures, carried in today’s Irish Sun newspaper, show Kelly with two friends carrying out some farming at lands at Tooban.
Kelly wore a grey hoodie and jeans as he tended to sheep.
The newspaper reports that the men arrived in a VW Passat but Kelly was not driving as he is also serving a ten year driving ban as part of his sentence.
The families of those whose families were killed in the horrific crash on July 12th, 2010 are split on Kelly’s future.
During his court case at Letterkenny Circuit Court, some families appealed to Judge John O’Hagan not to punish Kelly.
Others remained silent and did not speak up on Kelly’s behalf.
One family member of one of the young men killed in the crash between Clonmany and Buncrana, told The Irish Sun they were outraged by Kelly’s release.
They said they had not been informed by prison authorities but learned from another family about Kelly’s release.
“It just doesn’t make sense. He’s only half-way through his sentence and he’s allowed out. We didn’t know anything about it until we got a phonecall from another of one of the families telling us.
“The Appeal Court knew this was so serious that they doubled his sentence to four years and yet here he is coming and going amongst us after just two years.
“Things are still very raw that the court case dragged on for so long and that he didn’t start his sentence until more than five years after he killed all those people.
“Some people will say that we have to move on but how would they feel if they say the man who killed their brother or son back in their town when he was only half-way through his punishment?” said the family member.
The crash, the single biggest crash in the history of the state, resulted in the deaths of eight men.
Those who perished in the two car collision were Eamonn McDaid, 22, of Ballymagan, Buncrana; Mark McLaughlin, 21, of Ballinahone, Fahan; Paul Doherty, 19, of Ardagh, Ballyliffin; Ciaran Sweeney 19, of Ballyliffin; PJ McLaughlin, 21, of Rockstown, Burnfoot; James McEleney, 23, of Meenaduff, Clonmany and Damien McLaughlin, 21, of Umricam, Buncrana and 66 year old Hugh Friel who was returning from bingo in Buncrana when the tragedy occurred.
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