Drink driver who mowed down holidaymaker in hit-and-run death crash serves just ONE MONTH in jail
Yvonne Slaughter was on holidays in Morocco with friends earlier this month when she lost her life
A DRINK DRIVER who mowed down and killed a holidaymaker will serve just a MONTH in jail for her hit-and-run death, we can reveal.
Mohamed Hnaich, 50, was sentenced to three months in prison — with two suspended — by a court in Morocco.
He was also fined the equivalent of €840, which is around three months salary in Morocco, and has had his licence revoked for two years on Thursday evening.
Hnaich had been charged with drink driving, speeding and leaving the scene of an accident over the January 8 horror.
Yvonne, 52, had begun her holiday that afternoon and was out socialising with friends when she was struck by Hnaich as she crossed a street in the resort city of Agadir.
Hnaich — who was twice the legal driving limit — was doing 80kpm in a 30kph zone when he struck the Tipperary native.
He sped off and attempted to flee the scene despite the bumper hanging from the front of his Peugeot.
However, Hnaich was quickly surrounded by furious locals, who pulled him from the vehicle and held him until cops arrived.
He had been suspended from his civil service job and faced the sack if given a sentence of more than three month — but the lenient ruling means he will be reinstated once he leaves jail.
The sentence has caused shock in Sallins, Co Kildare, where Yvonne lived with hubby Brendan and kids Gavin and Eabhe.
Councillor Sorcha O’Neill, from nearby Naas, said: “If I were a family member, I would feel that was a severe injustice, it’s very light sentencing.
“I think it sets a bad example. If he wasn’t in his civil service job, would he have still got such a light sentence?
“I’m quite disappointed and I hope there’s an appeal against it.
“He can’t claim, considering his reaction, that he tried to assist the woman or call emergency services to atone for what he did. It’s extremely lenient.”
And Cllr Darren Scully said: “When it happened, the community was shocked, she was a young woman and a mother and very much part of the local community.”
He added: “I’d be surprised if it’s not revisited. It’s not just a freak accident here, people need to be held accountable if they do negligent things and a strong message has to be put out there that if you make these crazy decisions behind the wheel of a car, then you have to be dealt with in a very harsh way.”
Many Moroccans also attacked the ruling, saying it would damage the image of the country abroad.