Two men sentenced in QUB fresher hit-and-run case

The drunk driver who knocked down and killed then-first year student, Enda Dolan, has been sentenced to seven years.

Enda Dolan, 18, from County Tyrone, was in his first term at Queen’s University when he was struck by a van on Belfast’s Malone Road in October 2014.

David Lee Stewart, 31, of Gray’s Park Avenue, admitted a series of charges linked to the teenager’s death.

He will spend three and a half years in prison and the same amount of time on licence. Stewart was also disqualified from driving for 12 months.

A court heard Stewart had consumed 13 drinks, including six pints of beer and four Jagerbombs. Traces of cocaine were also found in his system.

Before he mounted the kerb and struck Enda, several witnessed observed Stewart’s van being driven dangerously. After striking Enda, who was walking to his student accommodation, Stewart continued to drive with the student on the roof of the vehicle for around 800 metres.

He sustained a broken neck and head injuries. A judge described the death as: “senseless and needless”.

The passenger in the car with Stewart, William Ross Casement, 21-years-old from Belvoir Drive, Belfast, left the vehicle and looked at Enda laying lifelessly.

The court heard he then re-entered the vehicle and encouraged Stewart to flee the scene, before the pair crashed further up the Malone Road. He was given 50 hours community service and two years on probation and was disqualified from driving for 12 months.