Man deported from UK arrested after being stopped in Omagh

A GALWAY man who entered the North unaware he was under an expired UK deportation order has been handed a suspended sentence, a court has heard.

Gheorghe Sahoi (30), of Triellan Heights in Galway, was stopped by police on May 12 while driving a red Ford Focus on the Dromore Road in Omagh.

Officers found he had no insurance and was subsequently arrested.

At the police station, it emerged Sahoi had been subject to a UK deportation order issued in England in 2019.

Although the order has since expired, he had no fixed address in the North and no surety, leading to an overnight remand and charges being brought to court.

Sahoi pleaded guilty to driving without insurance and to breaching UK immigration law.

Defence solicitor Patrick Roche told Strabane court his client had been visiting a friend in the North and was unaware of the jurisdictional difference between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

The court also heard Sahoi had previous deportation orders in Italy and Spain, but currently resides legally in the Republic.

District Judge Ted Magill imposed a two-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and added six penalty points to a UK ‘ghost licence’ due to Sahoi holding a southern driving licence.