Adam McCarron was given 240 hours of community service and handed a suspended prison sentence of 32 months following the shocking incident in Clonmany,
He was also hit with a six-year driving ban following an incident that left his best friend with a serious brain injury.
McCarron, dressed in a three-piece suit, stood with his head bowed in the dock as Judge John Aylmer handed down the sentence.
The 21-year-old of Magherard, Carndonagh, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm and to two counts of endangerment.
The court heard that one of the men best, Stephen Kelly, almost died as a result of the incident on Main Street, Clonmany, on September 13, 2021.
Mr Kelly suffered a serious brain injury and spent 10 weeks at the National Rehabilitation Centre in Dublin after McCaron braked suddenly sending the victim crashing to the ground. His head injuries were so severe that a medical report said there was “a risk to life due to high intracranial pressure.”
CCTV footage, which was played in court, showed both Stephen Kelly and another man, Declan McLaughlin coming out of a pub in the Inishowen village. Mr Kelly spread himself onto the bonnet of the car and Mr McLaughlin spread himself “star shape” on the roof of the black Vauxhall Astra car before McCarron drove off.
Video footage was also shown from behind the car, which was taken by someone in another car, showing the terrifying moment that Mr Kelly flew off the bonnet of the car and onto the road.
Mr Kelly told an early sitting of the court that neither he nor Mr McLaughlin hold the accused responsible for what happened, that they did not want to see him go to prison and that all three remain best friends.
The details leading up to the incident were outlined by Garda Michael Rafferty who was stationed at Buncrana Garda Station at the time.
He told how one local woman, Ms Yvonne Farrell, had been told by her husband that a man was outside their home lying dead on the road. Ms Farrell spoke to the emergency operator and later told gardai that both McCarron and Declan McLaughlin were in shock.
Garda Rafferty told how Mr Kelly, 22, was in the recovery position but had tried to get up but was disorientated and there was a wound to his head.
Gardai spoke to McCarron who was shaken and he made full admissions as to what had happened.
A intoxilyzer test on the accused on the night came back negative showing he had no alcohol in his system.
A report on Mr Kelly’s recovery showed that he had spent time in Letterkenny University Hospital before being transferred to Dublin’s Beaumont Hospital for specialist head trauma treatment and then returning to the National Rehabilitation Unit in Dublin.
After the incident Mr Kelly suffered intracranial pressure which had spiked and which had to be monitored and treated.
Mr Kelly took to the witness stand and said that he had made a good recovery.
He added that he did not hold what happened to him against his friend and that neither he nor Mr McLaughlin wished McCarron to go to jail.
The court was also told that neither Mr Kelly or Mr McLaughlin wanted to make victim impact statements.
During a previous hearing of the case, Judge Aylmer expressed concern over McCarron’s subsequent conviction.
Judge Aylmer said “There are too many cases of dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm and death that come before the courts in this county.
“I don’t want to send out the message to the youth of Donegal that I don’t take this type of activity seriously. I am concerned about dealing with it in a non-custodial way on that basis. I will give you an opportunity to see if anything alters my thinking.”
McCarron, of Magherard, Carndonagh, told the court that what he did was not only careless but also dangerous and stupid and admitted that he was “showing off.”
He added that he never blamed either of his friends for jumping on the car and that he accepted “full responsibility” for what happened that night.
“My biggest regret is what happened that night,” adding that he couldn’t go back to work for ages as he was worried for his injured friend.
McCarron’s barrister, Mr Colm Smyth SC, instructed by solicitor Mr Ciaran Mac Lochlainn, said his client had accepted that what he did on the night was ‘stupid, careless and dangerous.’
Mr Smyth said this incident has weighed heavily on his client since and that he has shown remorse.
Passing sentence, Judge Aylmer said the incident could be described as “juvenile showmanship or horse play”. Culpability could, Judge Aylmer said, be spread evenly between the various parties.
While criminal responsibility for the matters rested with McCarron as the owner and driver of the car, all three engaged in the activity.
Judge Aylmer said it represented “clearly very serious criminal offending,” the incident lacked a determined criminal intent.
Judge Aylmer noted that McCarron suffered from post traumatic stress disorder after the incident, but had to consider a subsequent conviction for the accused, for dangerous driving and drink driving arising out of another incident in February, 2023. He said McCarron took to self-medicating through alcohol before the PTSD was diagnosed.
Before considering mitigation, Judge Aylmer said the offences fell into the mid-range and merited a starting point of four years imprisonment on the charge of dangerous driving causing serious harm and three years in prison for the charges of reckless endangerment.
McCarron’s early guilty plea and the fact that he was “very clearly deeply remorseful and displayed great victim empathy” were taken into account. He said Kelly was McCarron’s best friend and he constantly enquired about and visited the victim.
McCarron has completed the ProSocial Driving Course and had no previous convictions. Notwithstanding a subsequent conviction for which he received a three-year driving disqualification, Judge Aylmer said the Probation Service deemed the accused to be at a low risk of reoffending.
On the charge of dangerous driving causing serious harm, McCarron was given a suspended sentence of two years and eight months on condition that he keep the peace and be of good behaviour for a period of two years..
McCarron was also put off the road for six years.
For reckless endangerment, McCarron was given 240 hours of community service in lieu of two years imprisonment.