A WOMAN who helped her then-partner flee to Ireland after he’d murdered a man in England has been jailed.
Bethany Donohue joined Ashley Donald as he fled to Ireland two days after he’d killed Andrew Flamson in a fatal collision in Grosvenor Road, Coventry two years ago.
Donohue, 23, of Albany Road, Coventry, was jailed on Monday for three years at Leamington Crown Court for assisting an offender.
Donald’s mother Faye Gowdy, 44, of Carpenter Road, Edgbaston, was also convicted of the offence and will be sentenced on Friday, September 27.
Ferry tickets
Donald was driving a silver Mondeo when he deliberately went the wrong way up a one-way street and hit 40-year-old Mr Flamson as he walked his dog just before 11pm on July 12, 2022.
Mr Flamson died in hospital three days later, while a man who was with him sustained life-changing injuries, including a fractured skull and brain trauma.
By that time, Donohue had bought two ferry tickets to Ireland and travelled there with Donald as he attempted to avoid justice.
However, investigators used detailed phone work, CCTV analysis and scrutinised bank transactions to trace what was happening and who was involved.
Donohue was arrested on July 19 when she landed at Birmingham Airport.
Police had also started the process of extraditing Donald from Ireland but he was arrested in September when he returned to England and handed himself in at Coventry Police Station.
In May last year, Donald was jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 23 years after being convicted of Mr Flamson’s murder.
Three other men who were also in the car at the time were convicted of manslaughter and were each jailed for between 12 and 15 years.
Donohue’s actions ‘cannot be tolerated’
“Using a car as a weapon is a shocking decision to take and resulted in a man losing his life,” said Detective Inspector Tom Lyons from the Major Crime Unit at West Midlands Police.
“For someone to then chose to try and help that person evade justice cannot be tolerated and we will always do all we can to bring them before the courts as well.
“In this case it has resulted in a young woman now facing time behind bars which we hope will serves as a deterrent to others considering taking similar action in the future.”