A man has been sentenced in relation to the death of 27 year old Charlotte McHugh, who died as a result of a road traffic collision in Dundonald, in 2021.
28 year old Steven Cunningham was sentenced at Downpatrick Crown Court on Monday 19th August to eight years in jail and eight years on licence for causing death by driving carelessly when unfit, perverting the course of justice, dangerous driving, driving whilst disqualified, using motor vehicle no insurance and possession of class C controlled drug. Cunningham also received a ten year driving disqualification commencing from his date of release from prison.
On Friday 5th July, 34 year old Adrian Aitken was sentenced at Downpatrick Magistrates Court to four years and eight months (28 months in custody and the remainder on licence) for two counts of assisting an offender, driving whilst disqualified and no insurance. Also, Aitken received a ten year driving disqualification commencing from his date of release.
In June, three people were sentenced for assisting an offender, Karl O’Neill was sentenced to two years, half in custody and half on licence, Thomas Reynolds, received a 16 month sentence which was suspended for two years and Tanya Galway, who had a 240 community order imposed.
Detective Sergeant Westbury said: “This was an extremely traumatic time for the family of Charlotte, as they sought justice for those involved in her death. We hope that today’s and previous sentencings will bring closure for Charlotte’s family.
“This has been a long and complex investigation and we as the Police Service of Northern Ireland hope this will show all victims of crime, that we are committed to bring those responsible before the courts.”