A 28-YEAR-OLD man has been jailed for four months after being convicted of multiple hit-and-run incidents in Enniskillen town centre.
Jamie Weir, of Mackenny Crescent in Ballinamallard, appeared at Enniskillen Magistrates Court on Monday.
The incidents took place on April 20, when police were first called to a two-vehicle collision at Rosscor Bridge. As they were responding, a second report came in of a hit-and-run at Ross Harbour Resort.
Officers found a white Audi with significant damage to the front and rear near the bridge. Weir was discovered in the passenger seat, with another man being treated for a broken nose. A woman involved in the collision was found nearby, nursing bruises from the crash.
Weir, who had a strong smell of alcohol, refused a roadside breath test and was arrested. Later, CCTV footage from Ross Harbour Resort revealed that he had collided with a parked car and fled the scene.
Weir was brought to the Strabane PSNI Station but refused to give an evidential sample.
However, he admitted to being the driver the following day, stating that he ‘panicked’ and didn’t remember much of the events leading up to the second collision.
Defence counsel Eamann Donnelly explained that Weir had been drinking with friends when a group of ‘threatening and intimidatory’ people entered the bar, prompting him to leave in an effort to defuse the situation. Weir had planned to get a lift home but ended up driving instead, he added.
The court heard that Weir was in breach of both a probation order and a suspended sentence. Mr Donnelly requested that Weir continue with his probation, noting that he had made efforts to address his alcohol issues.
District Judge Alanna McSorley, however, expressed concern about Weir’s ‘deliberate disregard for others’ safety’, stating that he had shown a ‘prolonged’ pattern of behaviour and was at a ‘high risk’ of reoffending.
Weir was sentenced to four months in prison and disqualified from driving for two years. He was granted bail of £300 to appeal.
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