Jillian Thornton died when Michael Collins of St Finian's Park, Drogheda crashed the car he was driving on May 27, 2016 in Duleek, Co Meath. Collins, 45, who defended himself after sacking his legal team, was also convicted on two charges of endangerment, 12 of dangerous driving and driving under the influence. The court heard the defendant was on his way to a music festival in Mullingar on the night with the victim and a friend, Alannah Byrne, who survived the crash. The trial had heard recordings of 999 calls from passengers in the car claiming the driver was going to crash unless gardaí called off the pursuit. The court heard that later investigations found no evidence to support this claim.

Source: Daily Mail July 18, 2019 00:56 UTC