A four-year jail term handed down to a 75-year-old taxi driver who failed to remain at the scene of a road crash which killed a Tralee man has been halved.
Dr Martin Lawlor suffered catastrophic injuries in the crash and later died.
Denis McSweeney from Pouladuff Road, Ballyphehane in Cork pleaded guilty to four charges relating to the collision which claimed the life of Dr Martin Lawlor on the Kinsale Road in Cork on December 15th 2018.
The 49-year-old consultant psychiatrist was walking home to his hotel from a Christmas party when he was struck by Mr McSweeney's taxi, which failed to stop.
The Irish Examiner reports that Mr McSweeney appealed the severity of the four-year sentence handed down in Cork Circuit Criminal Court in February.
The Court of Appeal noted it was unusual for someone of Mr McSweeney's age to come before the courts without previous convictions to be given a sentence of that magnitude.
The three presiding judges said the trial judge didn't believe that the accused had acted out of panic when he came across Gardaí investigating the crash but out of callousness.
However, the Court of Appeal found evidence of very confused thinking adding the case lacked aggravating factors.
The sentence was found to be excessive and was quashed and substituted with a two-year jail term.
