Leon Farrell, Ballylaw Road, Artigarvan, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving after police witnessed his Honda Civic and two other vehicles racing at 80mph in a 50 mph zone on March 18th this year.

Police were unable to trace the other two vehicles at the time of the incident, however they managed to note Farrell’s registration plate and later arrested him.

The court heard that Farrell, an employee of Ladbrokes in Derry had ‘sped off’ along with two other vehicles travelling side by side in a “moment of madness” along the Derry Road bypass in Strabane.

In sentencing, District Judge Liam McNally told Farrell that he had carried out an ‘atrocious’ piece of driving and he was fortunate that no one was killed in the incident. He said: “Your plea of guilty has saved you from an immediate custodial sentence.

“I’ve dealt with three fatal road collisons in recent months and here you are out racing. You were very fortunate that you or any members of the public were not killed,” he said.

However, Mr McNally said that Farrell had co-operated fully with the police during his police interview and this had shown a “degree of remorse”.

Farrell was sentenced to four months in prison, suspended for two years and disqualified from driving for 18 months.