Driving News

Three years for man (20) who had 72 old driving convictions01 April 2006
A banned driver who has 72 previous driving convictions on a 15-page criminal record was yesterday correctordered to be detained for three years after he stole a car.
Handing down the order at Belfast Crown Court, Judge Kennedy told Joseph Robert Francis McManus (20) that but for his "cavalier attitude" to rehabilitation, she would have also imposed a probation order.
She told McManus: "I do not think your youth is a mitigating factor because these are offences which are committed on our streets all too often by young men like you, and it must be brought home to them that they face custodial sentences of some length."
Earlier the judge had heard that McManus had stolen a taxi from outside the Rex bar on Belfast's Shankill Road after the driver had gone inside to find his fare.
Prosecuting lawyer Amanda Brady told her that cops spotted the car on the Monagh Road at around 5.10pm on May 9 last year and were able to identify McManus as "he was known to them".
As McManus tried to hide his face from the officers, he stalled the car, but then drove off at high speed.
Ms Brady said that during a high speed chase, the taxi undertook a Ford Fiesta, clipping its side and leaving driver Anne Kinnaird suffering from whiplash injuries.
McManus, from Norglen Parade in Belfast, was caught around a month later and later pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, aggravated vehicle theft, driving while disqualified and without insurance.
Defence solicitor Shane O'Neill said that McManus had asked him to "apologise directly" to Ms Kinnaird, although he conceded that "he does not have a good record, and that's putting it mildly".
Handing down the three-year term, Judge Kennedy revealed that at the time of the offences, McManus had been on probation for a robbery following his release from custody four weeks earlier.
She said that from reports compiled in the case, McManus was at a high risk of reoffending and of causing harm to the public.