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Martin Havern
A convicted death driver with 35 previous motoring offences has told Newry magistrates that his latest hit and run incident “was out of character”.
Martin Havern has been out of prison for just four months after serving a jail term for killing his friend in a car crash.
His defence was given short shrift by District Judge Eamonn King who reacted by reading out the 44-year-old’s litany of driving offences dating back to 1992.
The defendant with an address of The Ferns, Hilltown pleaded guilty to a new catalogue of charges including indecent behaviour, dangerous driving, driving while unfit, failing to report an accident, failing to stay at the scene and having no insurance on July 27.
In May of 2012, the Newry driver was sentenced to three years jail at Dundalk Circuit Court for dangerous driving causing the death of his lifelong friend, 33-year-old Thomas Price in July 2007.
Havern was said to have been driving so fast in an illegally taken Mitsubishi Shogun that he crashed near Omeath while trying to take a corner.
The Dundalk court heard Havern had taken another friend’s SUV without permission earlier that day.
A crash witness told the Garda Síochána how he saw the speeding 4x4 try to take the corner at the former Davey’s pub. The car hit a road sign and somersaulted a number of times before it landed on the road.
Mr Price, a father-of-one, was thrown from the SUV and Havern climbed out of it, telling the witness to ring an ambulance but “not the f**king Guards”.
Mr Price was taken to Daisy Hill hospital, but passed away a few hours later.
Other witnesses said Havern initially denied being the driver and spent a number of minutes on a mobile phone.
He then got into a car that was in a tailback because of the crash, and which drove the short distance across the border.
The court heard Havern had not made himself available to gardai investigating the crash. At the time of the crash he was out on bail for a ‘serious offence’ that was being investigated by the PSNI.
Judge Michael O’Shea, sentenced Havern to three years dating back to March 2011.
Last week the convicted death driver was held to account for striking a white Transit van while driving a luxury Lexus vehicle just four months since the end of his imposed jail term for killing his friend.
Prosecution told the Newry court that the PSNI attended the scene of a hit and run in the city at 3.55pm.
The injured party said that the Lexus driver had sped off from the accident.
Officers recorded from witness statements details of the Lexus driver slamming on brakes before reversing 10 yards into the Transit van and driving off.
The court was told that a short time later the police observed Havern parked on the side of the Forthill Road, standing outside of the car urinating.
Police detected a strong smell of alcohol, glazed eyes and slurred speech from the accused who was also unsteady on his feet. He was cautioned and arrested.
An interview was carried out the next morning at 9 am when “the defendant was sober”. He admitted to driving his wife’s car but had little memory of events due to his alcohol intake.
Admitting to the offences to police, an apologetic Havern was said to reply to the accusations “of course I am (admitting the offences) no messing about here”.
Mr King ordered a pre-sentence report for October 15 into Havern as “he is now on the cusp of a prison sentence”.