Man pleads guilty to causing death of St Johnston grandmother

A man has pleaded guilty to causing the death of a St Johnston grandmother.

Livinus Dillon tendered a guilty plea to a charge of careless driving causing the death of Patricia McBrearty.

The charge related to an incident at Church Street, St Johnston, on August 30, 2024.

Dillon, a 55-year-old with an address at The Haw, Churchtown, Carrigans, spoke only to confirm a guilty plea when he appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court.

He was charged that he did drive a vehicle without due care and attention thereby causing the death of another person, namely Patricia McBrearty. The charge is contrary to section 52 (1) and (2) (a) of the Road Traffic Act 1961, as substituted by section 4 of the Road Traffic Act (No 2) 2011.

The late Patricia McBrearty

Mr Sean McGee BL, barrister for Dillon, instructed by solicitor Mr Rory O’Brien, asked that sentencing be adjourned. Mr McGee sought the preparation of a probation and welfare report and asked that legal aid be extended to cover a psychiatric report.

Judge John Aylmer consented to the requests and the case was adjourned until the February 2026 sitting of Letterkenny Circuit Court.

At her funeral in St Baithin’s Church, St Johnston, last September, Ms McBrearty, a mother-of-three and grandmother-of-four, who was in her early 80s, was remembered as a “kind human being”.