A VITAL attribute in any journalist’s armoury is the ability to inure yourself to tragedy.

Fail to detach yourself from the horrors occasionally thrown at you and the job becomes virtually impossible to do.

Once in a while, however, a story comes along that pierces this shell – that exerts an emotional pull that is difficult to ignore.

The death of Adam O’Toole in a hit-and-run incident in March 2007 was, for me, one such story.

I started at the Examiner less than a fortnight after Adam died.

A few days later I was asked to attend his funeral at St David’s Church in Holmbridge.

It was clear from the huge turn-out that he was an immensely popular, talented and ambitious young man.

His life had ended just as it should have been beginning. It may seem a strange thing to say, but it was a privilege to have been at that service.

Over the next few months I got to know Adam’s mother, Beverley, and his girlfriend, Laura. Adam had called them his queen and princess.

They, as well as Adam’s father, John, were having to cope, not just with the tragic loss of a loved one, but with the agony of uncertainty about who had been responsible.

It is impossible for anyone who has not been through a similar experience to know what that must be like.

As time passed, and repeated appeals failed to yield any new leads, hope of a breakthrough all but disappeared.

Brett Kingsley’s arrest in February, therefore, came completely out of the blue.

He immediately admitted being behind the wheel and lying about the incident for the last three years.

For that he should get a small degree of credit. But the credit ends there.

At court yesterday, Kingsley’s barrister Christopher Tehrani, attempted to evoke the judge’s sympathy by claiming his client had suffered greatly as a result of “having to keep this terrible secret to himself.”

The implication that Kingsley was under an obligation to keep quiet was offensive.

Only he knew the truth. He made a callous choice not to divulge it.

Prosecutor Dave Mackay accurately summed up the impact of Kingsley’s deceit.

He had, Mr Mackay said, put Adam’s loved ones through “three years of torment.”

Kingsley must live with that knowledge for the rest of his life.

But, as Beverley O’Toole told me yesterday, he should be grateful at least that, unlike her son, Kingsley has a life to live.

ADAM’S family spoke of the sense of injustice they felt following yesterday’s sentencing hearing.

Family friend Cath Perry read a statement outside Bradford Crown Court on behalf of his parents, Beverley and John.

The statement said in full: “We would like to thank all those, including the media, who helped to find the driver who killed Adam and bring him before the court this week.

“We also appreciate the tremendous support we have received since that terrible day in March 2007.

“Last Sunday should have been Adam’s 22nd birthday.

“There were no cards, no celebrations.

“The day only brought yet another very painful reminder of his unfinished life.

“Today should have brought us some closure, but we feel neither peace nor comfort as we struggle to understand the discrepancy between some of the evidence given at the inquest into Adam’s death and the evidence put before the courts, particularly the estimated speed of the car when it struck Adam.

“The driver who killed Adam did not stop, he didn’t even brake and he did absolutely nothing to help Adam as he lay dying.

“By not coming forward, despite countless appeals, he added to our anguish.

“He did not come forward, but he was found out.

“For the driver to only face the charge of perverting the course of justice with regards to the fraudulent insurance claim does not feel like justice for Adam – our son, our only child.

“The sentence of 18 months shows little regard for the lost life of Adam James O’Toole at the age of 18 years.”