Enniskillen Court House, RMGFH03
A 38-year-old man, who is banned from driving for 15 years, was detected behind the wheel of a car by police in Fermanagh at the weekend.
Enniskillen Magistrates Court heard on Monday that police were on patrol at 1.50am on Sunday last, September 25th in Kesh when they spotted a Renault Megane turning right onto the Pettigo Road. Officers pursued the vehicle and observed that it swerved twice over the line. Police activated the blue flashing lights and siren, indicating the vehicle to stop but it continued on for a time before stopping.
The driver, Alexander Devenney, was observed swiftly moving into the passenger seat while a female passenger crossed over to the driver’s seat. When officers spoke to the pair, they detected a strong smell of alcohol. An evidential breath test from Devenney returned a reading of 88 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath – a total of 53 micrograms in excess of the legal limit.
Devenney was charged with drink driving, driving while disqualified and without insurance.
In March 2015 at Belfast Crown Court, Devenney of Ederny Walk in Carrickfergus and Tobarcooran Avenue in Newtownabbey was banned from getting behind the wheel of a vehicle for 20 years arising from two separate incidents in October 2013 and February 2014.
Devenney – who has 314 previous convictions – had his 20 year sentence reduced to 15 on appeal.
Out on supervised licence upon his release, police objected to Devenney being released on bail. This was due to concerns over his re-offending, the fact that he had completely ignored his driving ban by getting into a car while drunk, blatantly drove with no regard for other road users and posed a risk to other drivers.
Defence solicitor Garry Smith said his client had young children and was willing to adhere to any bail conditions the court would impose while he awaited trial.
Noting Devenney’s atrocious record for driving and previous convictions, district judge Nigel Broderick said he believed the defendant was at significnat risk of re-offending if released.
He remanded Devenney in custody to appear in court again by video link on October 24th.
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