Dundonald: Jail for man who removed woman’s body from crash

Cunningham’s driving was described by one of his co-accused as “out of control” and he was doing about 70mph.

He was on bail at the time of the collision and told police at the house in Ardmore Avenue that he was “breaching his bail to try to help” but was not the driver.

Ms McHugh’s mother gave the court a victim impact statement which was quoted by the judge.

She said the loss of her daughter “leaves an emptiness that will not be fixed” and her daughter was treated like “a toy or an object”.

She recalled how one of the victim’s young children screamed for weeks after the Ms McHugh’s death and would “reach out for their mother”.

The court heard Cunningham had previous convictions, the vast majority of which were for motoring offences.

Cunningham’s addiction issues were outlined to the court, as well as his remorse over the incident.

The judge said he had a high likelihood of reoffending and had persisted in his denial up to the day of the trial.

He will be disqualified from driving for 10 years from the date of his release and must re-take his driving test.