A Donegal man facing a murder trial has appeared in court on 15 dangerous driving charges.
Alan Vial was put off the road after he drove a stolen 20 ton lorry 100km across Donegal before coming to a stop at Lifford Bridge.
Vial appeared at Letterkenny District Court via video link from Castlerea Prison, where he is in custody awaiting trial having been charged with the murder of Robert Wilkin, whose body was found off the Sliabh Liag cliffs last summer.
At a previous sitting of Ballshannon District Court, Vial was sentenced to eight months in jail after stealing the lorry and driving through the gates of a fish factory in Dunkineey on February 23, 2023.
Vial was before Judge Ciaran Liddy on Monday morning on 15 dangerous driving charges. The 38-year-old of Drumanoo Head, Killybegs, pleaded guilty to four sample charges.
Sergeant Maurice Doyle told the court that Vial drove the vehicle through a roundabout at Ballymacool, Letterkenny causing another vehicle to take evasive action.
Vial also drove straight through a red light on Pearse Road, Letterkenny, without stopping and at Raymoghy, Manorcunningham he was charged with driving the vehicle through a roundabout causing a number of vehicles to take evasive action to avoid a collision.
Vial also pleaded guilty to driving a vehicle through a roundabout without stopping at Lifford Bridge.
Solicitor for Vial, Mr Patsy Gallagher, said the incidents represented ‘a continuous act’.
“He is a completely changed man since he went into Castlerea,” Mr Gallagher said. “He is engaged in full-time education and he has done a number of courses. He is also getting help, doing the relevant therapy.”
Mr Gallagher said the Court was ‘very well aware’ of an upcoming matter which Vial is facing and added: “He is certainly a man who has made peace with himself.”
Previously, Vial was banned from driving for five years for driving without insurance and was given an eight-month prison sentence for taking the lorry.
The court heard that Vial climbed a fence at C Fish in Dunkineely, County Donegal and entered a building to obtain the keys to a 20 ton rigid lorry, After making an unsuccessful attempt to cut a lock on the gates, Vial drove the vehicle through the gates of the factory and made off.
Vial and the vehicle were subsequently intercepted by gardai at Lifford Bridge.
At Letterkenny District Court, Judge Liddy said he had imposed a sentence which dealt with the substantive matter. He disqualified Vial from driving for two years.
Vial and a co-accused, Nikita Burns (22), of Bundoran Westend Accommodation, Westend Magheracar, Bundoran, County Donegal are accused of murdering Robert Wilkin at a place unknown within the State on June 25, 2023.
Over two hundred witnesses are involved in the case.
In December, at the Central Criminal Court, Mr Justice Paul McDermott fixed a date of January 13, 2025 for the trial, which is expected to last four weeks.