31.8.04
BBC
'Russian roulette' driver jailed
Rossa Quigley was struck by a stolen car on the Cliftonville Road
A Belfast teenager has been jailed for six years for causing death by dangerous driving.
Malachy Delaney from Whiterock Drive in the west of the city had been stealing cars since the age of 14, Belfast Crown Court heard on Tuesday.
The 19-year-old was driving a car which knocked down and killed Rossa Quigley, 25, in north Belfast last year.
Delaney pleaded guilty to 11 charges, including three further charges of dangerous driving.
Four other men, who were passengers in the car, were also sentenced.
Two were given suspended sentences, while the other two were given jail terms.
The judge said the term "joyriding" was totally inappropriate in this case.
A more appropriate term was "playing Russian roulette with the lives of the innocent", he said.
Members of Mr Quigley's family sat at the back of the court holding pictures of the victim throughout the hearing.
Outside the court Rossa Quigley's father Frank said there could be no justice for what they'd suffered.
He said: "He was rushing home to see his girlfriend. He had just seen his mother, it was her birthday.
"She will never have a birthday, but every single birthday she'll remember his smiling face that day."
Mr Quigley died after he was struck by the car on the Cliftonville Road in April 2003.
'Russian roulette' driver jailed
Rossa Quigley was struck by a stolen car on the Cliftonville Road
A Belfast teenager has been jailed for six years for causing death by dangerous driving.
Malachy Delaney from Whiterock Drive in the west of the city had been stealing cars since the age of 14, Belfast Crown Court heard on Tuesday.
The 19-year-old was driving a car which knocked down and killed Rossa Quigley, 25, in north Belfast last year.
Delaney pleaded guilty to 11 charges, including three further charges of dangerous driving.
Four other men, who were passengers in the car, were also sentenced.
Two were given suspended sentences, while the other two were given jail terms.
The judge said the term "joyriding" was totally inappropriate in this case.
A more appropriate term was "playing Russian roulette with the lives of the innocent", he said.
Members of Mr Quigley's family sat at the back of the court holding pictures of the victim throughout the hearing.
Outside the court Rossa Quigley's father Frank said there could be no justice for what they'd suffered.
He said: "He was rushing home to see his girlfriend. He had just seen his mother, it was her birthday.
"She will never have a birthday, but every single birthday she'll remember his smiling face that day."
Mr Quigley died after he was struck by the car on the Cliftonville Road in April 2003.
