Alex Dainty pictured before the accident in which he lost both his legs

Alex Dainty, who lost both his legs after he was hit by a drunk driver, has said he has no faith in the Irish justice system after the culprit had his sentence dramatically reduced

A young student who lost both his legs after he was hit by a drunk driver has said he has no faith in the justice system after the culprit had his sentence significantly reduced.

Alex Dainty's life was changed forever after he was knocked down by Marius Strelciunas on December 23, 2012, in Galway. The mechanical engineering student lost both his legs and remained in an induced coma for a week following the accident. Since then, he has slowly had to rebuild his life.

Strelciunas (33) was jailed for five years after he pleaded guilty at Galway Circuit Criminal Court to dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm to the then 22-year-old college student and drink driving.

However, he had three years of his five-year sentence suspended and his 20-year driving ban reduced to five years by the Court of Appeal this week.

Speaking after the decision, Mr Dainty said that while he was annoyed, he was not surprised.

"I was warned by the gardai that dealt with my case that it's extremely difficult to get a proportionate sentence where drink driving was concerned, especially if nobody died.

"They were very happy when the original sentence was handed down but it was in the back of my mind that it might change under appeal.

"All it's really done is reaffirm my lack of faith in the Irish justice system, how on earth one can get such a reduction on the grounds that he pleaded guilty 'really early' and having 'only one' previous conviction is beyond me," he said.

He said his life had changed utterly following the crash.

"Lifelong things I have to deal with are things like I have to really think when I go to new places now. Crowds are not fun at all. I don't really have the luxury of just saying 'oh I'll go here today' or just wandering around taking in the sights," he said.

The student loves cars, motorbikes, fishing and walking but all his hobbies have been curtailed by the accident. He is now focusing on finishing his degree at Kingston University in London.

"I was very depressed last year and (so) I failed the year. I am re-sitting second year, which I have to say the university has been very good about.

"Last year was certainly a learning experience, just not an academic learning experience. Life is maybe a bit harder than I was expecting it to be but it's starting to go smoothly again.

"There is still a long, long way to go, though, and it'll never get back to where it was, simply because prosthetics will not be able to replace my legs for the foreseeable future. They do an OK job but they are a poor replacement for the real thing," he added.

Irish Independent