A 29-year-old man has been acquitted of a number driving offences at Fermanagh Magistrates Court after the judge said he could not be sure the defendant was the person driving the car.

Jonathon Gray of Nutfield Road, Brookeborough was charged with driving with excess alcohol in his breath, driving without due care and attention, failing to stop, failing to remain and failing to report and accident after an incident on Main Street, Brookeborough on August 13, 2018.

A Public Prosecution Representative (PPS) told the court it was accepted by the prosecution, that on the night in question nobody had witnessed the collision. The owners of one of the vehicles had come down and saw the damage to their vehicle.

The collision took place at 12.10am, with police arriving on the scene at 12.30am.

A quarter of a mile away from the scene police observed a car parked in a driveway of a house. The side skirt was missing. There was also a side skirt at the scene of collision.

Police knocked at the house where the car was parked and the defendant answered the door. Officers observe further signs of damage and that the side air bags had been deployed. The defendant produces the keys of the vehicle. He is arrested for failing to stop, remain and report an accident. A preliminary breath test which is carried out is failed and he is further arrested for driving with excess alcohol.

At a police station, a further test is taken which returns a reading of 111mg per 100ml of breath.

The PPS representative continued saying it shows on the bodyworn footage that on two occasions the defendant cannot account for the damage to his vehicle and tells officers that another person had been driving his car.

Michael Fahy, defending solicitor for Gray, said that there was no proof of his client's involvement in the collisions. There were no witnesses to the incident and CCTV was not able to ascertain if it was Gray's vehicle.

Mr. Fahy said he was concerned with the content of the bodyworn footage as it shows on three occasions his client telling officers a name of a person who was driving the vehicle and had run off and that this was not followed up on.

He added that no testing was carried out on the side panel and at no stage was the vehicle seized not even a cursory investigation carried out.

Mr. Fahy concluded that there was a lack of evidence connecting the vehicle to the collision and and that there was no investigation into his client's assertion that there was another person involved.

In coming to his decision, District Judge Michael Ranaghan said this was a circumstantial case and that there was a very strong case the vehicle was involved given the time, proximity to the incident, damage to the car and the fact the engine was still warm.

However he said the bodyworn footage results in the case take a different complexion.

Judge Ranaghan said Gray clearly denies driving the vehicle while naming another person. There was nothing done and there is no reason why this was not investigated therefore he could not be sure.

Gray was acquitted of all charges.