Ex-Donegal GAA star released from prison after less than half his sentence for driving over cyclist

A SERIAL OFFENDING ex-Donegal GAA star who was banned from driving when he broke a red light and ran over a cyclist, causing injuries so severe she had to be placed into an induced coma, was released from an open prison after spending just nine months of his 21-month sentence in custody, the Court of Appeal has heard. 

Kevin McMenamin (42) must now wait to hear whether his sentence for dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm will be increased on foot of an appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutions. The maximum sentence for the offence is 10 years.

The State argued today that McMenamin, who has 33 previous convictions including those for drink driving and driving without insurance, is “someone who drives with disregard for the rights of other road users”.  

The sentencing court previously heard that McMenamin, from Church Town, Letterkenny, Co Donegal, was an “extremely talented athlete” who represented his county for three years in the national league and had trials for Aston Villa and Celtic.

McMenamin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm at the junction of Herbert Park Road and Morehampton Road in Ballsbridge.

On 19 January, 2024 he was sentenced by Judge Martin Nolan to 21 months in prison and was disqualified from driving for five years.

The sentencing hearing was told that on 22 July, 2021 McMenamin broke a red light in Dublin 4 and made a sudden turn, colliding with a cyclist in her late sixties.

He was disqualified from driving at the time. The woman was trapped between the two sets of wheels on the truck and dragged for two metres before surrounding motorists alerted the truck-driver by sounding their horns.

She spent nearly five months in hospital and underwent major surgery for her injuries, which included a broken pelvis and severe leg trauma.

The Court of Appeal heard today that McMenamin was moved to an open prison after less than two months incarceration and was released from custody in October 2024 after applying for enhanced remission.

The former GAA star has 33 previous convictions, including numerous road traffic offences such as drink driving and driving without insurance.

He was disqualified from driving for five years in March 2018 by Kilkenny District Court.

Appealing against the leniency of the 21-month sentence at the three-judge Court of Appeal today, Jane Horgan-Jones BL, for the DPP, said the maximum custodial sentence available in respect of this offence was ten years.

“It was dealt with at sentence as a case which was firmly in the lower range,” she said. “That, in my submission having considered all the factors, led the court into error.”

She said McMenamin broke a red light when making a turn, failed to indicate whilst driving a heavy articulated vehicle in a built up, residential area and failed to notice the cyclist.

Ms Horgan-Jones said all of these factors fed into the serious nature of the incident and submitted this brought it out of the lower end of the range of sentences available for offending of this type.

“This is an individual who is disqualified from driving and has elected to drive commercially for money,” she said.

The judge had characterised the incident as “a momentary lapse” in concentration, the barrister said, going on to suggest that this assessment was incorrect given the “series of errors” that led to the accident taking place.

She highlighted the fact that the five-year driving ban imposed was just one year above the mandatory minimum disqualification of four years for an offence of this type.

Ms Horgan-Jones said the judge had identified driving whilst disqualified as the sole aggravating factor in the case.

She pointed to McMenamin’s previous convictions for road traffic offences and argued these would have been an aggravating factor in the case even if the respondent had not been disqualified at the time.

“He is someone who drives with disregard for the rights of other road users,” she said, adding McMenamin has numerous previous convictions including eight for driving without insurance and two for drink driving.

Ms Horgan-Jones also suggested the discount given for mitigating factors in the case, including McMenamin’s plea of guilty and work history, were “simply too generous”.

Oisin Clarke BL, representing McMenamin, argued the 21-month sentence did not represent an error and noted there were cases with worse aggravating features where lower or similar sentences were imposed.

“One could not say that this is of such divergence that it would require this court to intervene,” he said.

The barrister went on to note that the decision to turn “was made in a second” and was a “momentary lapse in judgement”. There was a line of traffic so it was “highly unlikely” McMenamin was going at speed at the time, he said.

Mr Clarke said he could not get away from McMenamin’s history of road traffic offending and the fact he was disqualified from driving at the time.

However, he said these factors were referenced by the judge when imposing sentence.

“The disqualification is a year more than the mandatory, so it was something the court took into consideration,” he said, adding a five-year driving ban for someone who drives for a living was “a significant amount of time”.

Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy said the court would reserve judgement in the case and deliver its decision on 9 May, directing that McMenamin attend in person on that date.

A prosecuting garda told McMenamin’s sentencing hearing that the female cyclist was travelling home from town through Ballsbridge that afternoon when she noticed a large truck bouncing over speed bumps and going very fast.

She approached the lights on Herbert Park Road, intending to go straight through the junction and was confident that she would get through the lights before they changed from amber to red.

At the same time, witnesses described seeing the truck accelerating quickly and driving at an inappropriate speed along Herbert Park Road, before making a sudden left turn down Morehampton Road just after the lights turned red. Witnesses said the truck did not indicate before turning left.

The cyclist was just ahead of the truck and was hit by the vehicle and trapped between its two sets of wheels.