25-05-2025
'Kiea's killer never even said sorry' -- Teen's parents want DPP to appeal sentence
The distraught parents of one of the two teenagers killed on their way to a Debs ball say the former 'friend' responsible for her death has 'never apologised' to them.
In an interview with Frankie and Teresa McCann – whose 19-year-old daughter Kiea died alongside her best friend Dlava Mohammed, 16, while being driven at speed by Anthony McGinn from Clones to Monaghan in July 2023 – disputed his barrister's claim in court that he had expressed 'significant remorse'.
The couple, who have appealed the seven-year sentence handed down to McGinn, revealed that he has never said sorry for his actions despite spending 'more time here than he did at home' before causing the horror road crash. Kiea McCann. Pic:
McGinn has never said sorry for his actions.
'He's never apologised,' Mr McCann said this week. 'He's never shown any grief. Never.
'Even after the sentencing, he walked into that van, and when he was asked [by media], he never showed anything.' Anthony McGinn. Pic: Brian Lawless/PA Wire
In the interview, the McCanns reiterated that the justice system has 'failed' their daughter as they made a public appeal for tougher sentences for offenders such as McGinn.
McGinn was sentenced to seven years in prison last week for causing their deaths by crashing his BMW after reaching speeds of over 150kph.
He had pleaded guilty, ensuring a more lenient sentence and limiting what would be considered in court. Kiea McCann. Pic: Largy College
The McCanns said they believe the 61-year-old will be a free man 'in four or five years' time.
Mr McCann confirmed he formally wrote to the DPP on Thursday seeking for McGinn's sentence to be appealed.
He told this weekend: 'They'll have to look into it because I won't let it go. As a family, we won't let it go.' Kiea McCann's parents. Pic: File
Mr McCann commented that he would probably get a bigger sentence if he confronted his former friend on the street after his release.
'He'd run down and say, 'Frankie McCann tried to attack me' or something. The guards would come here and give me a longer sentence,' he said.
The McCanns also disputed what the court heard about the effect the crash had on McGinn, who, the court was told, lost his marriage, family and job, and would now be faced with substantial bills.
They believe a stronger charge than causing death by dangerous driving would have been appropriate, given the statements from two surviving passengers, which revealed they pleaded with McGinn to slow down.
'They begged for their lives,' Ms McCann said. 'The [survivors'] statements really should have been taken into account.
'These children were in a car, and they were afraid of their lives. I don't even think that was even considered.'
The family claimed the justice system has 'failed' all of the direct and indirect victims of the fatal Clones crash.
They are campaigning for legislative changes so other victims in similar situations are not denied justice.
Mr McCann told 'The law has to change. It has to change for my daughter and for the next victims.'
The couple also feel aggrieved that they were not allowed to play a two-minute clip for the court, showing 'how our child grew up through the years and how wonderful she was'.
'We should have been allowed to play that because, at the end of the day, he took their lives,' Mrs McCann said.
'It was our child's life at the end of the day, for the sake of two minutes. I just wanted him to see what he took from us.'
The devastated father said the judicial system appears to 'think more of the ones that caused the harm than the victims'.
A Department of Justice spokesman said Minister Jim O'Callaghan 'extends his deepest sympathies to Frankie and Teresa McCann'.
In response to the McCanns' call for tougher sentencing, they said: 'The conduct of criminal trials is a matter for the judiciary. The judiciary is independent. 'Sentencing is a matter for the courts. '
