Claire Kelly from Claudy was killed in a car being pursued by police in 2011
WHEN Denise McAuley’s daughter Claire was killed by a drunk driver she was left with many unanswered questions.
Claire Kelly, 20, died when the car she was in left the road near Claudy in Co Derry in 2011.
The driver was jailed for three years.
Denise’s decision to meet the driver, and forgive him, has now inspired Australian authorities to set up similar meetings between victims and perpetrators.
It came about after the former attorney general in the state of Victoria heard Denise speaking at a conference on restorative justice in Belfast.
Rob Hulls is now director of the Centre for Innovative Justice at RMIT University in Melbourne.
Denise McAuley was inspired to go and meet the man whose driving caused her daughter’s death to get some answers about why Claire lost her life.
The driver – Kevin Brolly, from Rannyglass in Dungiven – was a serving prisoner in Magilligan jail at the time.
The then 23-year-old had pleaded guilty to causing the death of Clair Kelly by careless driving and was sentenced to three years in prison.
Denise McAuley met the driver who caused her daughter’s death
“What led the young chap to take the actions that he did take? These things you do not hear in the court,” Denise explained.
“I went up, shook his hand, gave him that confidence.
“And by shaking his hand I was hoping to befriend a friend of my daughter’s.
“I told him I wished it had have been him [who died], he wished that too.
“I could see his pain, and feel his pain,” she added.
Mr Hulls said the use of similar restorative justice meetings in Victoria would not have come about if it was for Denise’s bravery.
“I listened to her and decided we needed the same thing here,” he said.
Next week, a former governor at Magilligan prison will tell Denise’s story at a conference in Canada.
“Denise’s courage has born such fruit,” David Eagleson said.
Mr Eagleson said he was proud that the work of prison officers in the North of Ireland was “making a real difference to people on the other side of road”.
Denise no longer has any contact with the driver.
But she believes the experience of meeting him has left her in a better place and she believes that her daughter would be proud of the path she has taken.
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