A man from Northern Ireland has evaded a driving ban after a high-speed pursuit Donegal.
26-year-old Ryan Devenney was fined €500 following an incident on May 28, 2017.
Gardaí responded to reports of a white BMW acting suspiciously in the Cloghan area of Donegal and, while driving in the townland of Corlecky, met a white BMW traveling at high speed in the opposite direction.
Gardaí performed a u-turn and followed the BMW, being driven by Devenney, at a speed in excess of 120km/h.
Devenney was arrested for dangerous driving and taken to Letterkenny Garda Station.
Gardaí pursued Devenney for around three miles, with the chase lasting ‘a matter of minutes’. After overtaking another vehicle, Devenney was stopped and arrested by Gardaí.
“The incident is regretted at every level,” defending solicitor, Frank Dorrian, told Letterkenny District Court.
“It was at ten o’clock at night in the middle of the summer so there was no school on in the area in question. It is a wide road, where it widens out at a long, sweeping corner. We are dealing with a pacy road.
“The reason for Gardaí going there was a report of a vehicle acting suspiciously.
“They had a breakdown and had gone to a house for assistance. There was no answer so they left. They received assistance from a breakdown company, who fixed a puncture, as they had no spare.
“They came from Northern Ireland and were fishing. They got punctured on the return journey. He was unaware that he was being pursued until the lights came on.
“It was a couple of young men hastily heading back from an evening out. The demeanour was fine. He was mannerly and compliant.”
Devenney, who was accompanied in court by his father, told Judge Paul Kelly that he ‘definitely wasn’t going that speed’.
Devenney would have faced a mandatory two-year disqualification for dangerous driving.
Deveneny was charged with careless driving and fined €500.