Ronan Keating took to social media to slam the “broken justice system” after his brother’s killer walked free.
The former Boyzone singer’s brother, Ciaran, was killed in a car crash in Mayo, Ireland, in July 2023 while on his way to his son’s football match. Ciaran suffered fatal injuries in the collision on the N5 at Ballymiles on a stretch of road known as an accident black-spot
Ciarán’s wife Annmarie was unable to attend her husband’s funeral because of her medical condition after the collision. Now, a man involved in the collision has been handed a a 17 month prison sentence suspended for a period of two years. He was also banned from driving for two years by Judge Eoin Garavan.
On the directions of the DPP, Dean Harte had been charged with careless driving causing death and serious injury and pleaded guilty.
Singer Ronan took to Instagram after the sentencing to share his dismay. He said: “Today’s sentencing was a devastating example of just how broken our justice system is. You can kill a man… and you can walk free. Not even a single night in prison. Just a slap on the wrist and a ticket to carry on your life, like nothing happened.”
He continued: “And then we wonder why we keep seeing this kind of behaviour on our roads, why people keep dying in road accidents across Ireland every week? It’s a joke and it’s morally corrupt that rather than trying to fix our broken system, they all turn a blind eye.”
He went on to hit out at the driver before saying “shame on everyone involved in this process that contributed to the heartbreaking outcome for my family today.” Devastatingly, Ronan said his family will now never find peace.
“We will continue to fight for Ciaran’s justice,” he said. “At this time we think of all the other families who have found themselves in our position, and we pray that other families never do.”
In court, John Shortt, counsel for Harte, called the accident as “an absolute tragedy”. He said the life of the Keating family had been changed forever and explained that while it’s difficult for them to accept an apology, Harte had offered a letter expressing “genuine remorse”. He said the Keating family had rejected the offer.
The Journal said impact statements on behalf of Annmarie Keating and her family were read to the hearing by one of her sons, Conall. “Ciarán was the love of my life and the beat of my heart”, Mrs Keating wrote. “I will never get over this and be the same again”.
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