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Man, 33, who dodged jail for careless driving causing death of young French woman also avoids prison for drugs charges

Judge Martin Nolan spoke as he handed down the sentence

• Published: 18:34, 12 Mar 2024

A YOUNG man who received a suspended term for careless driving causing the death of a young French woman has also avoided a jail term for drug offences.

A Dublin Circuit Criminal Court sentence hearing on Monday heard that Alicia Guilleux, 31, and her partner Florian Avril were visiting Ireland on a trip to celebrate a birthday when they were struck by an SUV driven by Shaun Kelly, 33, as they crossed a city centre road while holding hands.

Kelly was turning right from a minor street, Fade Street, onto South Great George Street.

Mr Avril was pushed clear of the vehicle but Ms Guilleux was dragged underneath the Ford Ranger and sustained catastrophic injuries.

She died two days later in hospital.

Kelly was tested and was clear of any intoxicants, but drugs were later discovered in the car and he subsequently admitted he had been in the area at the time for the purpose of selling drugs.Kelly, of Thornhill Gardens, Celbridge, Kildare, pleaded guilty to careless driving causing the death of Ms Guilleux at South Great George Street, Dublin 2, on December 11, 2021.

He further pleaded guilty to possession of ecstasy, cocaine, ketamine and TCP, a hallucinogenic drug, on the same occasion for sale or supply. He has no previous convictions.

Kelly was interviewed after Ms Guilleux passed away and told gardai he had not seen the couple until they were right in front of them.

He denied being distracted at the time he hit the couple but said he may have looked the other way.

The car had been seized and brought to the garda station.

While it was there the battery was recharged in March 2022 and drugs valued at just over €3,088 were found in a magnetic box attached to the engine block.

Passing sentence yesterday, Judge Martin Nolan said the first matter had been a tragic incident and the court expressed its condolences and sorrow to all parties.

He said that what Kelly had done had tragic consequences, but it seemed to him the court would not be justified in imprisoning him at this point for the crime of careless driving causing death.

Sentence suspended

He imposed a sentence of one year which he suspended in full. He disqualified Kelly from driving for one year.

Judge Nolan said he would think overnight about the drugs offence, which he considered to be a totally separate matter.

Today Judge Nolan said he had no doubt that Kelly was engaging in drug dealing at the time, but he didn’t think it was “too extensive”.

He imposed a three-year term of imprisonment which he suspended in full on strict conditions, warning Kelly that if he re-offended, he would go to jail.