Four years for speeding teenager who mowed down his two cousins

Nathan Hennessey, 19, instantly killed 11-year-old Megan Hennessey and left her 16-year-old sister Sophie in a coma with life-threatening injuries when he hit them with his car as they were walking home from school.

The youngsters were cousins of Hennessey on his father's side of the family.

The crash happened as the girls made their way home from the Trinity Academy school in Thorne, South Yorkshire, on November 27 2008.

Sheffield Crown Court heard that Hennessey was stuck in a queue of traffic in his Peugeot 306 on King Edward Road at around 3.45pm on the day of the crash.

Dr Tina Dempster, prosecuting, said Hennessey was "leapfrogging" cars in order to get ahead in the line.

She told the court that official police tests after the accident estimated that Hennessey, who was 18 at the time and had only been driving for four months, was driving at 39mph when he hit the girls, nine miles per hour over the speed limit for that area.

She also said a bus driver who was parked on the road heard loud engine noises and thought Hennessey had "floored the accelerator" just before the crash.

Dr Dempster also said Megan and Sophie were with a school friend at the time, who told the court the girls checked the road before crossing.

"Sophie cannot remember what happened at that point," Dr Dempster said, "or even what happened that week.

"But the friend they were with said that at that point the two girls set off to cross the road and there was no traffic nearby."

She said it was falling dark and cars approaching on the road were noticeable because they had their headlights on, but the witness thought they had "ample time" to make it safely to the other side.

She said that to this witness, "it seemed that Mr Hennessey had just come out of nowhere".

She added that Hennessey may have swerved round a car turning the corner in front of him without waiting for it to complete its manoeuvre. This could have explained how neither he nor the girls saw one another until they collided.

Megan suffered severe head and internal injuries and died at the scene.

Sophie, who was 16 at the time of the crash and is now 17, suffered a fractured skull, serious head lacerations, a lacerated kidney and bone injuries.

She was in a coma for six weeks.

She is now 17 and has made a good, although not full, recovery.

Dr Dempster also added that she was satisfied that it was pure coincidence that the girls happened to be Hennessey's cousins and it was not intentional.

The court heard how Hennessey originally denied a charge of death by dangerous driving but changed his plea to a guilty one just before going on trial.

Speaking after the sentencing, the girls' parents, Amanda and Andrew, said they were pleased justice had been done but it would never be enough to compensate for the loss of their daughter.

Andrew Hennessey, 41, fought back tears as he said: "It's been an horrendous year, horrendous, and we're not through it yet.

"We just want to get on with our lives now and try and pull ourselves together as best we can."

When asked what the effect had been on the family he said: "The family has been torn apart but there wasn't much love between us really.

"Although they were cousins there was nothing there, they were just like people we knew.

"That's nothing for me, the difficulty is dealing with losing someone I loved so much."

Mrs Hennessey, 42, said today's verdict would be of comfort to Sophie.

"The fact that Sophie doesn't feel any blame for what's happened

because that's played on her mind for a long time."

"I think Sophie's just focusing on getting up and going to school every day.

"She's got a purpose, she goes to school and we go to work.

"But it's when we get home and Megan's not there, that's when the reality hits and we know that this is going to be with us forever."

She also thanked the police and lawyers involved in the case.

She talked about some of the anger that has engulfed the family since the accident and said they had received no condolences from Nathan Hennessey's side of the family.

"You would think that with it being a family member you would get something from somebody from that side of the family," she said, "just saying - whether there's any blame or not - 'we really appreciate what you've lost and we're sorry that you've lost such a special person and we haven't'."

"That's what's hurt us the most, the fact that there's no remorse for what's happened."

Guy Wyatt, mitigating, said the fact that the two girls were the children of Hennessey's father's brother was relevant as it made his sense of remorse even stronger.

"Mr Hennessey was not close to those two girls," Mr Wyatt said.

"Although cousins they did not see each other frequently.

"The family connection is a mitigating factor as it shows the effect of Mr Hennessey's offending on everyone."

He also said that Hennessey's father and his brother, Megan and Sophie's father, had been partners in a business but the latter person left the business after the accident as he felt he could no longer work with his sibling.

Sentencing him, Judge Jones said he had taken both sides into account when considering his verdict.

Hennessey, who also has a previous conviction for careless driving, was driving his car in a manner which meant he could not avoid handing him a custodial sentence, the judge said.

He told Hennessey, who began to cry as he was receiving his sentence: "It is clear from the evidence that you were driving in an impatient and aggressive manner.

"You yourself admitted you were speeding."

He also alluded to the long and personal victim impact statement from Megan's family, telling Hennessey that any sentence was not meant to reflect the cost of her life.

Judge Jones said to Hennessey: "I accept that it's a tragedy for you and your family that you will be subject, at a young age, to a substantial custodial sentence but that has to be set in balance against the loss of a young life that was full of promise and the injury to a sister.

"It also has to be set against the life-long anguish of Megan's family whose worlds have been forever turned upside down."

He also disqualified Hennessey from driving for 10 years.