Mother sentenced to two years for killing teenager

A mother of six who knocked down and killed a teenager in north Belfast last year has been sentenced to two years imprisonment.

Alison McKeown, from Newtownabbey, Co Antrim, was found guilty at Belfast Crown Court on January 10 of killing 16-year-old Thomas McDonald on the Whitewell Road last September.

McKeown, a 33-year-old mother of six, ran the boy down after he threw a brick at her car. He later died from serious head injuries.

In addition to the custodial sentence, McKeown will serve two years probation following her release.

McKeown had admitted death by dangerous driving but denied murder. At her trial, McKeown's lawyers argued that she had acted in the heat of the moment and had not intended to seriously injure the boy. In his summing up, Lord Justice McCollum accepted that the intention was not to kill but that McKeown had deliberately run the boy down.

The incident occurred at the height of sectarian tensions surrounding the Holy Cross protests.

(GMcG)