A Keady man has been sentenced to six months in prison and handed a four-year driving ban after stealing cash and cards from a car during a drink-driving episode.
Cailean Myles, appeared before Armagh Magistrates’ Court, sitting at Newry, via videolink from Maghaberry, where he was sentenced to six months behind bars, however, due to time served in custody since his arrest the 21-year-old walked free from court.
Myles faced a plethora of charges, including : theft, driving with excess alcohol in breath, aggravated taking and causing damage to vehicle, using a motor vehicle without insurance, and criminal damage.
The prosecution outlined that on March 13, there was a report of a road traffic collision on the Blaney Road, Newtownhamilton, with three male occupants seen exiting the vehicle.
Police located the three males with the driver of another vehicle, who claimed that two of the males had stolen cash and cards from his car, which had been parked in a nearby farmyard.
Following a search, the items were located on the defendant, who was subsequently arrested.
CCTV was viewed which identified Myles as the driver of the vehicle and further enquiries revealed that he was disqualified; he was then arrested for the charges before the court.
The Court heard that whilst in a police cell, Myles “hit the window with handcuffs”, which caused damage and scrapes to the glass. He provided two samples, with the lower rating reading 83.
Patrick Taggart BL, defending, said: “He has been in custody for this length of time equivalent to a six month sentence.
“He’s a hard-working man on a good wage and there is clearly an issue here.
“The report identifies that he does show remorse for his involvement.”
District Judge Anne Marshall, said: “It’s a serious combination of offences Mr Myles.”
“You minimised your involvement in these offences to quite a degree when you were talking to probation, although they did say you then went on to express some remorse.”
In relation to two previous “directly relevant” matters, Judge Marshall added: “This is your third strike and you’re going to get a custodial sentence for this.
“What I’m going to do is give you six months on them all, which means you should be released immediately.”
Myles was also landed with a four year driving ban.
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