Young learner driver responsible for deaths of a mum and daughter feels ‘so guilty’ and wishes she ‘could turn back the clock’
Geraldine Clancy, 58, and Louise Clancy, 22, from Co Cork died after their car collided with Susan Gleeson on December 22, 2015

A YOUNG woman on a learner permit who was responsible for the deaths of a mother and daughter has apologised at an inquest to the victims’ family and cried: "I feel so guilty".
Susan Gleeson, 21, last year received a three year suspended sentence and was disqualified for driving for 15 years after she admitted dangerous driving causing the deaths of Geraldine Clancy, 58, and 22-year-old daughter Louise.
The pair drowned when their car ended up in a flooded dyke following a crash near their home in Kilworth, North Cork on the morning of December 22, 2015. The women were aged 58 and 22 respectively.
Mrs Clancy was dropping her daughter Louise to Fermoy to get the bus to Cork city when the crash occurred.
Gleeson, of Leitrim, Kilworth, Co Cork, failed to yield at a junction, went in to the opposite side of the road and crashed in to the Clancy’s with their car going in to a flooded embankment.
Gleeson was on a learner permit and was driving unaccompanied. She was driving her father’s car at the time of the crash.
She had been driving for eight months and had nine driving lessons. She was mainly a “weekend” driver.
Ms Gleeson told an inquest in to the deaths in Mallow, Co Cork yesterday that the passing of mother and daughter would forever haunt her.
She said: “I misjudged the junction. I took the turn too wide and collided with the oncoming car. The car went through the opening of a broken bank and turned over.
"It all happened in a split second. I heard screams from the car. I heard a man say that she (Louise) had squeezed his hand.
“Two paramedics came over to me and told me that Louise and Geraldine had died. I couldn’t breathe. I was hysterical.
"I feel so sorry for the Clancy family. I wish I could turn back the clock. I feel so guilty.”
The Clancy family were represented by solicitor Paddy McCarthy. He put it to Gleeson that unaccompanied drivers should have their cars impounded if detected by gardai.
She agreed and said there was a chance that the crash might not have occurred if she was accompanied by a licensed driver.
She said she wasn’t speeding but she was driving too fast for the junction because her mind was on an upcoming appointment.
Gleeson was not using her mobile phone at the time of the crash and alcohol or drugs were not a factor in the incident.
Mrs Clancy was an experienced driver with a 30 year unblemished record and was previously found by the court to be faultless in the crash.
Meanwhile, Mrs Clancy’s husband Noel told the inquest of the horror of arriving at the crash scene by chance.
He recalled his slow realisation that the women trapped in the overturned car were his wife and daughter.
Mr Clancy was on his tractor when he spotted the crash. A neighbour was onsite with a loader and efforts were underway to assist the women trapped in the car.
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He told the inquest that the front of the car was completely in the water.
Two loaders lifted the car and Mr Clancy pulled a girl out of the car not realising it was his daughter.
Louise was “blue and purple” and her blonde hair was wet making it look dark. He also failed to recognise his wife.
Then he noticed that the car was owned by his wife Geraldine.
He said: “The alarm went off in my brain. She (Geraldine) was two or three colours of blue. I shouted ‘That’s my wife’ and the fireman pulled me across the road.
"I knew Louise was dead by her colour. I said ‘Come on Geraldine, you can do it.’ The doctor said ‘I am sorry they are both dead.’"
The tragic pair drowned after their car ended up in a flooded dyke just days before ChristmasAssistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster said that Louise and Geraldine died from acute cardio respiratory failure due to drowning due to a traffic accident.
Coroner Dr Michael Kennedy described the case as being “a terrible tragedy.” He said the “split second” accident had had devastating consequences.