By Eoin Reynolds
Galway farmer, Michael Scott, who was found guilty of the manslaughter of his aunt, has been jailed for six years.
Scott (59) of Gortanumera, Portumna, Co. Galway had pleaded not guilty to murdering his aunt Christina ‘Chrissie’ Treacy (76) outside her home in Derryhiney, Portumna, Co. Galway on April 27, 2018.
He had been convicted earlier this year of the manslaughter of his aunt on the basis of gross negligence when he drove over her in an agricultural teleporter outside her home.
Scott had gone on trial accused of her murder but the jury returned a unanimous verdict, acquitting him of that charge.
The prosecution case was that Scott deliberately reversed over his aunt following a long-running dispute over land.
Michael Scott
At the Central Criminal Court today (Monday, June 26) Justice Caroline Biggs set Scott’s headline sentence at eight years but reduced that to six years having taken into account the mitigating factors.
Members of Scott’s family cried and comforted one another when the sentence was announced.
Justice Biggs said that had Scott “thought about it at all” he would have realised the risk caused by him reversing an agricultural teleporter across the yard, outside his aunt’s home, while his view was obstructed.
“He didn’t think of her at all, an elderly lady, his aunt, living alone,” the judge added.
She said that Chrissie Treacy was entitled to feel safe outside her home and she put Scott’s culpability higher than in a case of dangerous driving causing death.
Justice Biggs also pointed to a number of lies told by Scott to gardai after the killing when he said that his relationship with his aunt had been “the finest” and they only ever argued over small things.
The judge said he had also lied when he said that following the collision his aunt was still alive, he heard her breathing, saw her moving, did not notice any injuries on her and did not think she would die.
Justice Biggs said these were lies told for “self preservation” and that he showed little care for his aunt at that time and showed “no remorse” in the immediate aftermath of the killing.
Central Criminal Court
However, the judge also accepted that Scott has more recently expressed genuine remorse and reports from the probation services suggest he has insight into the impact the killing has had.
He had no previous convictions and Justice Biggs described him as a hard-working family man who was responsible in his business affairs.
The judge also noted at the Central Criminal Court today that Scott has indicated that he accepts the jury’s verdict.
Justice Biggs said that Chrissie Treacy was “by all accounts a terrific lady, ahead of her time on farming knowledge and expertise and a boss in a house of men.”
She recalled witnesses who had described Chrisse Treacy’s “wonderful Irish sense of humour” and her love of animals, in particular her dog Bradley who went missing two months before her death.
The judge said that Michael Scott’s aunt had loved people and loved engaging with her neighbours and friends and “lived life to the fullest”.
She also commended Chrissie Treacy’s community for the care and support they gave to her during her final years.