DRIVER WHO KILLED CYCLIST IS JAILED FOR EIGHT YEARS

By CHRIS MacKAY

(Tenyear ban for man who drank 14 pints and smoked cannabis before accident)

A DRIVER who knocked down and killed a cyclist after drinking up to 14
pints of beer and smoking cannabis was jailed for eight years and banned
from driving for ten years yesterday.

Kevin Kinsella, 34, unemployed, of Hilltown, Dundee, was found guilty by a
jury of the culpable homicide of Colin Munro, 15, by driving in a culpable
and reckless manner and with a criminal disregard for the safety of other
road users.

Colin, of Burnbank, Kennoway, Fife, a junior champion cyclist, was killed
instantly on the LevenWindygates road on 25 September last year.

After the verdict, his mother, Ann Munro, warned drivers not to drink and
drive and urged politicians to "think twice " before calling for the
legalisation of cannabis.

The jury also found Kinsella, who had previous convictions for drug
offences, guilty of failing to stop after the accident and attempting to
pervert the course of justice by pretending his car had struck a deer.

The jury returned unanimous guilty verdicts on all the charges after one
hour's deliberation at the end of a sixday trial.

Lord MacLean said the facts spoke for themselves, telling Kinsella: "You
knew very well what happened that particular night and how much you had to
drink. I am not prepared to go further than that."

He sentenced him to eight years on the culpable homicide charge, banned him
from driving for ten years and ordered him to resit his driving test. He
jailed Kinsella for six months and three months on the other two charges
but ordered them to be served concurrently with the eightyear sentence.

After the trial, Colin's mother and father, Ronald, embraced both sets of
grandparents who had been in court. Their only remaining child, Alison, 14,
had sat with them during the trial.

Mrs Munro said: "The sentence does not make any difference to us. We have
got a life sentence. Kinsella has only eight years. You cannot replace our
only son."

She said she had no feelings towards Kinsella. He is a total stranger to
us, she said.

She warned drivers who might drink and drive during the festive season:
"Many drivers assume they simply won't be caught. Kinsella is a prime
example of this fallacy. He has been caught and he is now doing eight years."

She also warned politicians calling for the decriminalisation of cannabis.
"Too many people in high places are pushing for the legalisation of
cannabis. Not enough is known about the effect of cannabis on its own, far
less when it is taken in conjunction with alcohol."

In this case, she added, Kinsella had smoked cannabis on top of drinking
alcohol before driving that night.

The parents said they got "great comfort" from a pathologist, Dr Heindrik
Scholtz, who had carried out a postmortem examination. He told them Colin
had not suffered and had been killed instantly from a massive fracture of
the skull.

Mrs Munro said: "The fact that Colin did not suffer was a blessing. How do
you describe a son that you love? He was a lovely boy."

During the trial, the court had heard evidence that Kinsella went on a
sixhour pub crawl in four bars in Leven and Elie on an outing with three
friends from Dundee on 25 September last year.

In the course of the day, he drank between ten and 14 pints of Caffrey's
beer and shared two cannabis joints with his friends before setting out to
drive to Dundee on the LevenWindygates road.

Colin was on his way home after visiting a schoolfriend in Leven. He had a
powerful flashing red tail light on his racing cycle which was carefully
maintained, the court heard.

Margaret Thackeray, 42, of St Peter Street, Dundee, who was a passenger in
Kinsella's Ford Escort that night, told the court how Kinsella had laughed
and joked as his car bounced off kerbs and verges as he drove his three
friends home.

Another passenger, Suzanne Kiani, told the court she was so terrified of
Kinsella's driving that she demanded to be let out of the car after he had
driven only 100 yards after leaving the last pub in Elie.

Norman Gray, of Dundee, told how the car went on to a verge on two wheels.
He told the court: "I thought we were going to be killed."

Minutes later the car hit something and the windscreen shattered. Kinsella
did not stop until three miles on, when they went into another pub.

When Kinsella was questioned by police next day, he told them he had driven
to Leven alone and had been "stone cold sober" on the drive back. He had
then decided to go for a run to Blackcraigs Forest, Bridge of Cally,
Perthshire, where his car had hit a deer and shattered the windscreen, he
claimed.

However, during another police interview he admitted he had been lying and
that his car had struck something in Fife on 25 September. He did not know
what it was. If he had thought it was a person, he would have contacted
emergency services. He told police: "I would not have left him there to die."

When questioned by a sheriff in Kirkcaldy in April this year during
judicial examination, he insisted he had drunk only two pints of beer and
his driving ability had not been impaired in any way.

Kinsella did not give evidence at his trial and showed no emotion when he
was jailed.

During the trial the defence argued that there had been two cars involved
in the incident and Kinsella was driving the second car. Colin Munro's body
had been hurled onto the bonnet of Kinsella's car which was following
behind, they said.

The prosecutor, Alan Turnbull, QC, told the court after the verdict that
Kinsella had four previous convictions for drugs offences. The last one in
1984 was for possession with intent to supply for which he was jailed nine
months. He said Kinsella was single and registered disabled as a result of
contracting polio in his youth.