A man who killed a young student and then hid his car in his garage before fleeing the country has applied to get back on the road.
Laura Hegarty was killed when she was struck during a hit-and-run
James McDevitt, 31, knocked down student Laura Hegarty as she walked home on St Patrick’s Night in 2007.
Laura, from College Farm Road in Letterkenny, was just a couple of hundred yards from her home when she was hit by a car which then took off.
The 18 year old had been walking across the road as she was afraid someone was following her.
After hitting Ms Hegarty, McDevitt fled and hid his car at his home in Dooen Glebe, Newmills.
The following day he fled to Scotland.
Gardai launched a massive manhunt and interviewed 96 people as part of their investigation.
Their search led them to McDevitt’s home where his mother Lynne showed them his car in the family garage.
Forensic results showed the silver Honda Civic car had been the car that struck tragic Laura.
McDevitt returned from Scotland to face trial a number of days later.
In 2008 he was found guilty of careless driving, hit and run and failing to remain at the scene of an accident and jailed for five months and disqualified from driving for five years.
Laura’s heartbroken mum Marie said at the time that her family had been left devastated by Laura’s death.
“In that instant the world stopped turning, then it froze, and cracked and fell down around me like shards of glass.
“The protracted nature of the case and the late guilty plea has painfully dragged out Laura’s death…The real victim of this is Laura who was robbed of her life at 18 years of age.”
At Letterkenny District Court today McDevitt applied to have his license back – four years into a five year ban.
His solicitor Patsy Gallagher said the incident would live with his client for the rest of his life but he was now just trying to get on with his life.
Garda Superintendent Vincent O’Brien said McDevitt did not submit his license at the time of the disqualification and the endorsement would begin if a new license was granted.
Judge Paul Kelly said he would adjourn the case until January 21st to consider the matter.
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