A 22-year-old Ballinamallard man has been jailed for four months, suspended for one year, disqualified from driving for three years and faces a £700 fine following a recent sitting of Fermanagh Magistrates Court.
The prison sentence was suspended for one year.
Resident Magistrate Bonita Boyd heard how on the 5th August this year, Police received a radio transmitted report of a possible disqualified driver travelling along the Irvinestown Road.
A Vauxhall Cavalier was subsequently stopped on the Wellington Road, Enniskillen at the junction to Fairview Avenue. The defendant, Mark Andrew Hall from Baragh Road gave his name as 'Stephen Murray', and told the officers he had bought the car a few days earlier. Further checks were made and the defendant again said he was 'Stephen Murray'. He was arrested for driving when disqualified and for obstructing police. He confirmed his name and said 'I hold my hands up, you know I am Mark Hall'. It was further discovered he had no insurance.
The Court further heard that at approximately 5.30pm on 5th August, the defendant was spotted driving a white Vauxhall Cavalier on the Dromore Road, Omagh. The vehicle was stopped by Police, using blue flashing lights and a siren. The defendant was arrested for having no insurance and for driving whilst disqualified. The vehicle was seized as it was believed to have been used daily for committing offences.
Defending, Aubrey Murray accepted that his client had an extremely poor record which showed he treated the law with some level of disregard.
Referring to a comprehensive pre-sentence report, he submitted that his client had learned his lesson. He told the Court that Hall was spending the first time of his life in prison since early August and, as such had served the equivalent of four months. Prison life had proved to be an unpleasant experience, and his instructions to him were that he had been the subject of a number of assaults and bullying. He suggested that his client was slightly built and said had sustained a facial injury among other injuries.
He agreed it was a cliché but, as a result of this experience, Hall had learned his lesson.
Mr Murray accepted that the defendant had acted in an extremely stupid fashion in the past and that his record screamed that fact. He said on his release from prison there was full-time employment available to him as a welder. He had a 20-year-old girlfriend and a two-year-old daughter. The defendant accepted that he did not help police initially and that this was a mistake. Regarding the application by the PPS to have the vehicle seized permanently, Mr Murray reported that the vehicle had been bought by the defendant and his girlfriend and that there was now a buyer to purchase it. It was valued at £1,000. As such, the car would be out of the defendant's control and the money would be split between himself and his girlfriend.
Addressing Hall, Ms Boyd said he was no stranger to the Court when it came to driving whilst disqualified. She said he had a very relevant record with no significant gap between offending. Disqualifying him from driving had not helped but she felt that perhaps a remand in prison had.
For driving when disqualified, she imposed a four month prison sentence suspended for one year and to run concurrently and she disqualified the defendant from driving for three years. For driving without insurance, she imposed £300 fines. For obstructing police she imposed a £100 fine. She suggested that the money from the sale of the vehicle could go towards paying his fines.
