Farmer who caused death of auntie by driving over her has sentence reduced

Eoin Reynolds

A farmer who acted in a "thuggish" manner towards his elderly aunt, before causing her death by driving over her in an agricultural teleporter, has had his sentence reduced by 18 months following a successful appeal.

Mr Justice Brian O'Moore on Wednesday said that Michael Scott's negligent behaviour in driving the teleporter outside victim Chrissie Treacy's home without keeping a proper lookout warranted a headline sentence of six years.

He further reduced the sentence to four years and six months after considering Scott's remorse, lack of previous convictions, long work history, status as a family man and his low risk of reoffending.

Scott had been sentenced to six years in prison by Ms Justice Caroline Biggs at the Central Criminal Court, but appealed the severity of that penalty.

Following Wednesday's judgment, Scott became tearful as he embraced members of his family before being taken away to continue serving his sentence.

Scott (61) of Gortanumera, Portumna, Co Galway was initially charged with murdering his aunt, Christina 'Chrissie' Treacy (76) outside her home in Derryhiney, Portumna, Co Galway on April 27th 2018.

A jury found him not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter on the basis of gross negligence.

At the Court of Appeal on Wednesday, Mr Justice O'Moore said the aggravating factors were that Scott's view through the rear window of the teleporter was obstructed by dirt, a mirror was missing, and he did not keep a proper lookout while reversing across a yard outside his aunt's home.

He also noted Scott's previous behaviour towards his aunt, which he described as ranging from "unacceptable to thuggish".

However, he disagreed with Ms Justice Biggs's finding that Scott's offending warranted a headline sentence of eight years.

He found that this was an error and quashed the sentence before imposing the new sentence, which he backdated to June 12th 2023.

In February, Michael Bowman SC, for Scott, told the court that his client's conviction came on the basis that he had failed to keep a proper lookout or use proper caution while reversing across the yard outside Ms Treacy's home.

Mr Bowman argued that, given all the circumstances, the eight-year headline sentence identified by Ms Justice Biggs was too high. He said the judge had made an error by putting the case at the higher end of the mid-range for manslaughter type offences.

However, Dean Kelly SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, had argued that the judge properly used her discretion in arriving at the headline sentence.

The only disagreement he would have, he said, was that Ms Justice Biggs had given Scott too much benefit when she reduced the eight-year headline to six years.

Scott's trial heard that there had been a long-running dispute between Ms Treacy and Scott over land. The Health Service Executive and gardaí had been informed of concerns regarding Ms Treacy's welfare due to her relationship with Scott.

Ms Treacy and her brothers had farmed about 140 acres at Derryhiney, and she owned another farm at nearby Kiltormer. Following the deaths of Ms Treacy's brothers, Michael Scott came to own half the land at Derryhiney, and Ms Treacy owned the other half.

She leased her land at Kiltormer and Derryhiney to Michael Scott.

There was evidence that Scott drove a friend of Ms Treacy's off the road and that he was heard banging a table during a "to and fro" with his aunt about land.

A solicitor acting for Ms Treacy told the trial of his shock at the "utter vehemence and anger" Scott expressed during a phone call regarding the same issue.

Another witness said that about three months prior to the killing, Scott was "enraged" and warned, "this will end badly," referring to the dispute with his aunt.

In early 2017, Mr Scott did not bid to continue leasing the land from Ms Treacy in Kiltormer when it went up for auction.

By Christmas 2017, Ms Treacy had made an application through her solicitor to split the land at Derryhiney and put a new lease on the half that she owned.

In February 2018, Ms Treacy's loyal and much-loved Jack Russell dog Bradley, "vanished" from her home, which the sentencing court was told "broke her spirit".

On the day of Ms Treacy's death, Scott received a letter from an agricultural consultant telling him not to claim payments for parcels of land on the farm he jointly owned with his aunt.

Scott told gardaí that he was not concerned about the letter and drove to the yard outside his aunt's home to do some work on the farm.

He said he got into the teleporter and was reversing across the yard when he felt a "thump", thought he might have hit a trailer and moved the teleporter forward to level ground.

He said that when he got down from the cabin he saw his aunt lying on the ground.

After the killing, the court was told Scott did not call emergency services but phoned a friend and waited for him to arrive. He later claimed he didn't know the number for the local hospital or doctor and said he wasn't aware that a person could contact ambulance services by calling 999.

He described her death as a tragic accident.