Family of Ronan Wilson (9) ask DPP to appeal sentence for son's killer

The family of Ronan Wilson have formally asked the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to appeal the sentence that was handed down to the nine-year-old’s killer.

Ronan, from Kildress in County Tyrone, was mowed down by Sergee Kelly, who fled the scene and went on a binge of alcohol and drugs as the little boy lay dead on the road at Atlantic Way, Bundoran on September 23, 2023.

Kelly, a 24-year-old of Upper Mullaghmore in County Sligo, was jailed for five years and disqualified from driving for 20 years at Donegal Circuit Court, where he was sentenced a day after Ronan should have been making his Confirmation. 

Ronan’s mother, Emma Wilson, says she feels “let down” at the sentence.

The family, after advice from their own legal representatives, have written to the DPP and asked for an appeal of the “leniency” of the punishment.

“We want him to get a proper sentence,” Ms Wilson told Donegal Live.

“We don’t feel that we have got justice here. When you look at his history and all of that, it is a slap in the mouth, a let down.”

Emma Wilson. (North West Newspix)

Kelly was previously sentenced to prison - a four-year sentence with the final two years suspended - in 2019 for stabbing a youth in the face. Two years later, Kelly was fined €2,000 for careless driving after being caught driving at 160km/h.

A signed guilty plea entitled Kelly to an automatic reduction of one third to the sentence, the starting point for which Judge Aylmer said was eight years. 

Five-year sentences, to run concurrently, were also imposed on charges of failing to offer assistance and failing to stop following the incident. 

The maximum sentence that can be applied for a charge of dangerous driving causing death is one of 10 years imprisonment.

“We feel let down by the justice system,” Ms Wilson said. “We were told that the maximum sentence was 10 years and that, as he pleaded guilty, it would go down a bit. We thought, maybe eight, but we weren’t expecting five. We feel angry.”

Kelly was travelling at a speed in excess of 100km/h - the speed limit is 50km/h - when he struck the youngster with such force he was propelled 58m down the road.  

Callous Kelly, who told a consultant psychiatrist that he did not realise he struck someone, went out on the down, necking a cocktail of drink and drugs. Judge John Aylmer said he considered the incident “very much at the upper end of such offending” as he jailed Kelly.

Sergee Kelly at Donegal Circuit Court. (North West Newspix)

During a sentencing hearing at Letterkenny courthouse, Kelly was put in the witness box by his barrister, Mr Colm Smyth SC, and told the Wilson family, including parents Emma and Dean, who were present in court, that he was sorry. 

Ms Wilson, who was in Bundoran on a family break on that fateful September night in 2023, said: “He went partying; it was just as if he hit a rabbit - surely you would still stop even if you hit a rabbit. 

“Even in his apology there was nothing. There were no expressions on his face. No remorse. No nothing.

“There was not a thing in him. He doesn’t give a shit.”

Ms Wilson and her family came face-to-face with Kelly during court appearances.

She said: “I met him a couple of times coming in through the doors. I just had a panic attack. I literally couldn’t breathe. I don’t know if I was angry or scared.”

They hope that the DPP will now ask the Court of Criminal Appeal to review the sentence given to Kelly.

Ms Wilson said: “We honestly don’t know how long it will take, but are determined to see the sentence increased.”