Mum of crash victim Estlin seeks harsher punishments for careless driving

Estlin Wall died in a collision which also left her father, Vincent, seriously injured. File picture: iStock

A woman whose daughter died in a car collision has called for tougher punishments for careless driving.

Estlin Wall died in a collision which also left her father, Vincent, seriously injured.

The Court of Appeal ruled last week that a €1,500 fine was too lenient a penalty for a truck driver whose careless driving caused the death of the three-year-old girl.

The three-judge court imposed a 16-month sentence on 64-year-old Senan O'Flaherty but suspended the entire term on condition that he be of good behaviour for two years.

Estlin’s mother - Amy Dutil-Wall - has since called for tougher punishments in cases like her daughters.

Speaking to Morning Focus on Clare FM, she said the family have been “doing okay” but that it has been “very difficult” still being in “what I could consider the early stages of grief during the pandemic when we can’t get the usual supports.” She said: “To finally say that the criminal side of Estlin’s death is done with is definitely a relief.” 

Ms Dutil-Wall said that they watched the verdict online and that they felt “very vindicated that the appeals court agreed that the original sentence was too lenient.

“But we definitely still were disappointed that a custodial sentence wasn’t handed down.” Ms Dutil-Wall said that she wants to see tougher punishments for careless driving, saying that “one [fatal car collision] still in my mind is too many”.

She added that it is a “horrific experience to go through”.

She said: “We have to start looking at what can be done that will encourage every road user to drive as safely as possible all of the time.

“And I think custodial sentences in every case of driving causing death - whether it’s dangerous driving, careless driving, whatever the charge ends up being - I do firmly believe that custodial sentences in any of those cases would work as an overall deterrent to future drivers.” 

Ms Dutil-Wall added that she has never been able to refer to her family’s case as an “accident”.

“I think there is a massive difference between losing control of your car on black ice or getting a flat tire on the motorway. They are things that are completely out of our hands that do happen on the road every day that can cause fatal crashes.

“Our particular case was someone chose to drive in a negligent manner. They made a decision that had such intense and life long consequences for us, the ending of my daughters life. I can’t look at that as an accident.” 

She said that there was an “inconsistency” in sentencing when it came to cases like the one involving her daughter, which she said made it hard to look as if justice was being served.

Ms Dutil-Wall said that to be able to do something in Estlin’s name and “create a legacy” is something she is passionate about.

The family donated Estlin’s kidneys and lungs, saving two other lives with Ms Dutil-Wall saying that her daughter became a “lifesaver” with the donation.

Ms Dutil-Wall said that the Court of Appeal ruling was “more motivation to try and finish this job I feel like I’ve started by calling for harsher penalties.

“Because I do want these tragedies to be as less common as possible.

“If that means putting in that mental and emotional energy to encourage looking at laws and how they could be changed or updated or how sentencing could be updated across the board in terms of these sorts of offences, then I’m very willing to put that work in.”