The fine and disqualification were imposed on Laura Doherty (25), from Mount Carmel in Strabane, when she pleaded guilty at the Magistrate's Court in Derry to a charge of driving without due care and attention along the Culmore Road on December 7 last.

Ms. Doherty's car went out of control as she rounded a left handed bend while travelling in the direction of Muff in Co. Donegal. She crashed into an oncoming car being driven by Lisa Marie McElhinney (31), killing her and Ms. McElhinney's mother Mrs. Bernadette McElhinney, (57), who were travelling from their home in Redcastle towards Derry. Both women died instantly.

Mrs. McElhinney was well known in Derry for her work with the Weightwatchers group and had only moved from her home in the city to Redcastle shortly before the accident happened.

Deputy District Judge Nigel Roderick was told that subsequent forensic examinations showed that neither of the cars involved in the accident had any contributory mechanical defects nor was speed an issue.

The defendant, who wept through the court hearing and who was accompanied in court by members of her family, was travelling to collect her sister from a friend's house in Muff when the accident occurred at 8.24 a.m.

"She was driving a Peugeot 307 and Lisa Marie McElhinney was driving a Peugeot 106", a prosecution solicitor told the court. "The defendant momentarily lost control of her car as she rounded the bend and veered into the path of the oncoming car. After the collision her car spun and crashed into a wall eighty-three feet from the initial impact. The defendant received injuries to her arms and legs.

"During her police interview on December 18, the defendant's solicitor read out a pre-prepared statement on her behalf and she replied no comment during the interview", the solicitor said.

A defence solicitor said his client had initially been charged with causing death by dangerous driving but the charge before the court was, he said, "the appropriate one given all the circumstances".

Lapse

He said that "the most fleeting momentary lapse of concentration" contributed to the accident which as well as having tragic consequences for the family of the victims, has also had "profound and devastating reprecussions for my client. She was off work for three months while she tried to come to terms with this accident.

"Regardless of what happens to her here today, she will have to continue to cope as best she can with the devastation she has caused and her family are trying to support her as best as they can", he said.

Before he passed sentence, the Deputy District Judge said he wanted to express his sympathies to the McElhinney family. "It is particularly distressing that one family lost a mother and a daughter", he said.

Mr.