Halvey avoids jail over fatal crash

FORMER Munster and Ireland rugby player Eddie Halvey has been given a seven-month suspended sentence and disqualified from driving for seven years after pleading guilty to careless driving and drink driving following a road crash which claimed the life of a 16-year-old boy in 2006.

Halvey of Allendale Hall, South Circular Road, Limerick had admitted being under the influence of alcohol when his Land Rover collided with the back of a BMW at Coole, Toomevara, Co Tipperary, on April 1, 2006.

Teenager Kevin Walsh, of Sycamore Drive, Bruff – a back seat passenger in the BMW – died in the crash.

Halvey, who the court heard was more than twice the legal alcohol limit, told the young man’s family he was truly sorry for what he had done.

In her victim impact statement an emotional Kate Walsh, the victim’s mother, said Eddie Halvey thought he had the ‘God-given’ right to drive while he was under the influence of drink.

From the witness box she turned to the former Munster and Ireland player and told him she will never forgive him for her son’s death.

She also accused Halvey of never showing remorse to her family.

In the stand, Halvey said everything Ms Walsh said is true. “I am truly sorry for what I have done to you and your family,” he said. “I do not expect forgiveness.”

Judge Thomas Teehan suspended sentences totalling seven months for a five-year period and disqualified Halvey from driving for seven years.

Following the sentencing, Kate Walsh spoke to the media outside Nenagh Courthouse.

“I have closure now, even though I didn’t get what I want in justice for Kevin.

“But I needed to look him [Halvey] in the face and just tell him what I thought and let him know how I feel.

“It has hurt and the pain is as raw as if it happened three years ago.”