A man has told Longford Circuit Court that a fatal road crash is "all he thinks about" as he apologised to the family of the victim in court.
36-year-old Gary Crichton with an address in Castlerea Prison, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of Leitrim mother of four Claire Bann in November 2017.
Longford Circuit court heard Claire Bann was driving an Opel Zafira with her partner Alan Gilroy to Longford when their car was in collision with a VW Polo being driven by the accused coming in the opposite direction on November 30th 2017.
A forensic report of the crash showed that the Polo was 2.5 metres on the wrong side of the road when the collision occurred.
The force of the crash pushed the victim's car onto its side and moments later, a third vehicle, travelling towards Longford crashed into the car's roof.
Despite medical assistance, Ms Bann died at the scene from her injuries.
A urine sample of the accused taken after the crash revealed that he had traces of benzodiazepines cannabis, and heroin in his system and the court heard he collected methadone earlier in the day in Longford town, and a female friend described him as appearing " high" when he called to her house in the afternoon.
She was later a passenger in a car driven 'erratically and at speed' by Mr Crichton into Longford.
In an interview with Gardaí, the accused told Gardai that he held his hands up as to what happened and could not believe a woman was dead. .
A victim impact statement prepared by Mary Gilroy, the mother of Ms Bann's partner, detailed extensive changes to her son's life and that he is now a totally different person to the son they knew before the collision.
The court heard the family are now dealing with extensive medical issues for Alan as a result of the crash.
She also thanked medical personnel who attended the crash and many people who have assisted the family since the collision including "all the emergency personnel who attended the scene of the accident, the staff of Mullingar General, and to the person who sat with Alan until an ambulance got to him, and contacted his dad."
Thanks were also expressed to "Rev Linda Frost and Fr Bernard Hogan as well as his best friends, Declan and Stephen, to Damien, Peadar and Michael F and to the village of Drumlish as well as Sgt Paul Carney and garda Padraig McConnon."
Ms Bann's four children outlined how they miss their mother and have been struggling to cope since her death.
The accused offered an apology in court to Ms Bann, her relatives and the family of her partner, claiming that he was deeply, deeply sorry and it is "all I think about everyday".
He said that he would not wish the incident on anyone and he hopes that in time the family can find it in their heart to forgive him.
He has been in custody since May 2019 and will be sentenced on today.
