The family of a little boy killed by a hit and run driver in Bundoran have described the sentence handed down to the man who ran him over as “truly pathetic.”
Ronan Wilson was just 9 years old when he was killed by dangerous driver Sergee Kelly in September , 2023.
Kelly fled the scene and went on a drink and drugs binge and also visited the local amusement centre.
He was today sentenced to a total of five years in prison and banned from driving for 20 years by Judge John Aylmer.
The maximum sentence open to court was a term of ten years but this has to be reduced by a third because the accused man entered a signed plea of guilty.
The late Ronan Wilson, RIP.
With mitigation, Kelly was sentenced to a total of five years today.
Members of Ronan’s family emerged at Letterkenny Courthouse to thank the Gardai and their legal team.
The clung to a teddy bear made from a hoodie once loved and cherish by young Ronan while his mother and father proudly wore necklaces with his face pictured on them.
However, family spokesperson and Ronan’s uncle Stephen McAuley said the family were “devastated” by the sentence given.
“No sentence can ever bring Ronan back. but five years for the life of our boy is truly pathetic.
“Sergee Kelly mowed down our wee boy and with that he drove a knife though our hearts. He then fled the scene, a remorseless coward. He then parties the night away while our child lay dying in the street. In doing this he turned the knife and our family has been in agony ever since.
“The sentence handed out today doesn’t ease our pain in any way and we believe this sends the wrong message to other young people who drive vehicles in a reckless way. It is a blight suffered by communities up and down the country and particularly in Donegal.
“Our family need time to come to terms with the loss of Ronan. He was a force of nature, we will miss him beyond measure and he leaves a void which can never be filled.”
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