Driver admits killing man after drinking five glasses of vodka

Vladimar Kovac appeared at Dungannon Crown Court

A driver who drank at least five glasses of vodka before killing a man in a high-speed crash has been told he faces a "significant" sentence.

Vladimar Kovac from Carrowshee Park, Lisnaskea, County Fermanagh, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to causing death by dangerous driving.

Barry McManus, who had just became a father for the second time, died at the scene of the crash on 11 June 2022.

The crash happened on the Belfast Road in Brookeborough.

Dungannon Crown Court heard it was Mr McManus's wife's birthday on the day he was killed.

The prosecution said that when police told the victim's wife her husband had been killed, she was holding their three-week-old baby and an officer had to take the baby from her as she was so distressed.

The area of road where the crash took place had a speed limit of 60mph.

Mr McManus's car was parked on the hard shoulder.

The court heard that collision experts had established that 42-year-old Kovac's car came across the opposite side of the road and onto the hard shoulder before careering into Mr McManus's vehicle, sending it spinning into a hedge.

Analysis showed Kovac's accelerator pedal was fully depressed for five seconds before the crash - increasing the speed of his car from 80mph to 95mph.

The experts found there was no evidence he had braked.

Five glasses of vodka

Kovac was arrested at hospital and in a police interview he claimed to have had an argument with his wife and then started drinking alcohol before the crash.

He accepted he had "at least five glasses of vodka" before getting into his car and later driving off.

Judge Richard Greene KC asked Kovac how he felt about his actions.

Kovac replied: "Very bad. my life turned 180 degrees."

The prosecution provided a victim impact statement from Mr McManus's wife in which she spoke of the difficulty seeing the defendant and his family in the local area when her husband was dead.

She also spoke of the challenges of raising their two young children.

The judge said he wanted to reflect on the case before sentencing.

"This is a case in which the sentence will be measured in years and very probably a significant number of years," he said.

"Given the inevitable outcome you will be remanded in custody."

Sentencing is due to take place on 27 October.