Louise Cantwell (24) of Gortlarry, was involved in a three car collision at Ballyargus, Redcastle shortly after 3.30am on Saturday, March 19, 2005. Alice Mullen (22) of Mill Brae, Carndonagh was pronounced dead at the scene, while Kelly Doherty (20), Glentogher passed away a few hours later at Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry.

In a highly charged courtroom victim impact statements were read out on behalf of both families of the deceased.

The Doherty family bitterly noted that, although Kelly died within ten minutes' drive from their home, they were not notified of her death until 7.20am.

"We should and could have been with Kelly. This we never can forgive. You, Louise, were in the same hospital as Kelly. Why did you not give them her name?"

They added: "Louise, you have never said sorry, not once. You didn't even wait until Kelly's month mind mass before you went back to that niteclub."

The Mullen family's said Alice "filled the house with fun and laughter" when she returned home each weekend, where she shared a house with Kelly.

"Our lives have changed irreversibly since Alice died. The loneliness, pain and emptiness is constant and we feel a part of us has died.

The added: "The fact that Louise has yet to say she is sorry has added to our pain and prolonged it."

Pain of the accused

Cantwell's barrister Bernard Madden told the court that his client "had attended both houses in an attempt to offer her condolences and express remorse but the reception was not good."

He submitted a letter from the 24 year old's employer testifying to her good character, and noted that she had no previous convictions of any kind.

He asked the court to take into account the effects the accident and the death of her friends has had on Cantwell as a person.

"She has not escaped scot free. She sustained very serious injuries in the accident and spent two weeks in hospital.

"But more than that, every day she wakes up and has to deal with the fact that her actions have led to the death of two of her friends."
"She has to live with that and her parents have to as well."

The background

An earlier court hearing was told that two carloads of friends were returning home after having attended a fundraiser in memory of Shane Toye, who died in a road accident one year previously, and then gone on to the Bailey niteclub.

Shortly after leaving the club, Louise Cantwell overtook her friend Patricia Logue with the intention of pulling in and collecting her brother from Patricia's car.

Garda Paul Doherty told the court that, according to forensic evidence submitted during the trial, Cantwell had pulled back into her own lane.
However, as she rounded a "wide-sweeping bend to the right" her car crossed over into the other lane and struck a vehicle travelling in the other direction.

That car, belonging to Rhona Moran, who was returning home from work, spun and a second collision followed involving Patricia Logue's vehicle.
Louise Cantwell's two passengers both died as a result of the accident.

'No aggravating features'

Judge Martin Nolan expressed his condolences to the two families. He thanked them for their victim impact statements. "One can't help but be moved. It's obvious these words come from their hearts. We can feel their loneliness and their bitterness. I have four children myself and I cannot imagine what it must be like to have to deal with such a tragedy.

"However it is my duty to pass sentence on the basis of the facts presented.

"Many people have their own views and suspicions as to what happened on that night.

"The suspicious permeating this case is that it was a 'boy-racing' or 'girl-racing' incident but I have heard no evidence of that.

"I must base my judgment on the evidence and I can find no evidence of aggravating factors such as excessive speed or recklessness. If there were any, Miss Cantwell would be going to jail.

"Inattention is a human frailty that can affect us all and have a devastating effect on the road.

"In my view, that's not a jail-able offence.

"I sentence Miss Cantwell to three years' imprisonment, the entirety suspended. That's three years to reflect the seriousness of the issue, and three years to think about it. But, as there are no aggravating factors, I'm suspending it."

He also disqualified Cantwell for driving for five years.