Motorist jailed for killing child

The Wilsons were parked outside their new house

A Fermanagh man who caused the death of a two-year-old child in a drink-driving accident has been jailed for five years.

James Gilroy from Aughamore in Boho drove into a parked car in December 1999, in which the child, Joshua Wilson, and his family were sitting.

Joshua sustained multiple injuries in the accident and died later in hospital.

The court heard that Gilroy was more than twice the legal drink-driving limit.

He was charged with causing death by careless driving.

Gilroy was sentenced on Monday at the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast.

Mr Justice Kerr said Gilroy's decision to drive had been "scandalously irresponsible".

He said his "irresponsible and outrageous behaviour had blighted the Wilson family's lives".

However, the judge said he was taking into account a number of factors, including Gilroy's "genuine remorse" and the effect the incident had had on his mental health.

Dorothy Wilson spoke of her pain

Afterwards, Joshua's parents said they had expected the prison sentence, but felt it was not nearly enough.

Joshua's mother, Dorothy, said: "I would say, especially to all those young drivers if they could only see today the hurt and the pain that our family are going through."

The fatal accident happened on the Drumee Road near Enniskillen.

Car struck

Joshua, his mother and his three sisters were sitting in their car outside a house the family were building in Derrygonnelly.

They were waiting to collect Mrs Wilson's husband, Robert, who was working on the bungalow, when their car was struck.

Dorothy Wilson and her ten-year-old daughter were critically injured.

Her two other daughters, aged five and eight, were seriously injured.