A 46-year-old former model who pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of a mother of two had consumed 12 alcoholic drinks, which included cocktails, prosecco, wine and gin, in the hours before the crash.
Ms Sheila Dunne (50) who was described by her daughter as “an amazing woman — worth her weight in gold" died following a single vehicle crash in Sarsfield Court in Glanmire in Cork last February.
Poignantly, her husband Ted died of Covid-19 in February 2021.
The death of Ms Dunne left their two children without any living parent. The special needs assistant was just 1.5km from her home in Glanmire when the crash that ended her life occurred.
Jennifer Thomas of Oakfield View, Glanmire, Co Cork appeared before Cork Circuit Criminal Court on Tuesday having pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of Sheila Dunne on February 11th last.
Defence counsel Tom Creed, SC, told Judge Helen Boyle that “unfounded social media rumours” and inaccurate newspaper reports had circulated in the wake of the crash. He said that “malicious rumours” had spread in Cork that the body of Sheila Dunne had been moved in the vehicle.
Investigating garda Dt Garda Mark Durcan confirmed that there was no truth to any suggestions that Jennifer Thomas or any other person had moved the body of Sheila Dunne following the crash.
Detective Garda Durcan said that the crash occurred at 7.30pm on February 11th last at Sarsfield Court in Glanmire in Cork.
Ms Thomas had been socialising with Sheila, her friend of over 20 years, from lunchtime that day when they went for a meal at a restaurant in Douglas in the city. They went to a bar in Blackrock in Cork and then on to a bar in Glanmire prior to getting in to Jennifer’s SUV.
Dt Garda Durcan said that in the minutes before the crash occurred Jennifer fell asleep before the wheel twice whilst stopped at traffic lights. On one occasion a passer-by observed that Jennifer was asleep and knocked on the window of the vehicle telling her to park-up.
Instead, she did two U-turns in a matter of minutes and drove on the wrong side of the road at Hazelwood Road in Glanmire.
She knocked down traffic cones as she drove towards Sallybrook and narrowly missed knocking down two pedestrians on the footpath.
Dt Garda Durcan said that Ms Thomas took a left-hand bend at Sarsfield Court in Glanmire and failed to straighten up, entering a grass verge.
The Bluetooth system in the car automatically called the emergency services. Speed was not a factor in the case.
Dt Garda Durcan said that Ms Thomas was wearing her seat beat when the collision occurred. However, Sheila Dunne was not.
He indicated that the impact of the collision led Sheila, who was in the front passenger seat, to fall on top of Jennifer Thomas. Dt Garda Durcan said that roof had to be cut off the vehicle in order to extricate the women.
He stated that when gardaí arrived at the scene Jennifer Thomas was asked who was driving. She said that she was and then she “got erratic” and was unable to give a definitive answer. She then said that Sheila Dunne was driving as she had “more control.”
When she was shown CCTV at a later date by gardaí, Ms Thomas accepted that she was driving. She also said she had no recollection of the collision due to concussion. However, there was no medical evidence of concussion.
Ms Dunne died in hospital two days after the crash.
Lilley Dunne, the 23-year-old daughter of Sheila Dunne, said in her victim impact statement that she came to court with a “shattered heart” weighed down heavily by the loss of her “rock of a mother” Sheila.
The court heard that Ms Thomas had 10 previous convictions for road traffic offences, larceny and misuse of drugs.
Defence barrister Tom Creed, SC, said that his client’s previous convictions for larceny and misuse of drugs occurred when she was a teenager.
Mr Creed said that his client has suffered from long-term mental health difficulties and often wishes that she died during the crash. He added that Ms Thomas was hugely remorseful for her actions. Mr Creed said that his client accepted that getting behind the wheel drunk was an “outrageous” thing to do.
Judge Boyle offered her sincere condolences to the family of the deceased.
Ms Thomas was remanded in custody pending her sentencing on Thursday. She was warned that she was facing a custodial sentence.
