A provisional driver who was stopped twice in the same day was detected driving at 82mph by police, a court has heard.

On December 16 last, police stopped a BMW 3 Series car firstly on the A4 Belfast Road, near Maguiresbridge and then on the Tempo Road, Enniskillen.

At 10.50am, police carrying out speed checks detected the car, being driven by Biju Devaraj (34), of Mill Street, Enniskillen, on the A4 heading in the direction of Fivemiletown.

When spoken to, the defendant told police he only had a provisional driving licence. The car did not have any L-plates displayed. Provisional drivers are limited to speeds of 45mph.

Devaraj was cautioned and notebook interviewed as well as being informed a fixed penalty notice could not be issued due to the nature of the offences.

Later on, at around 3.30pm. police carrying out checkpoint stops on the Tempo Road, stopped Devaraj again.

He again informed them of only having a provisional licence, and there were no L-plates displayed and he was also unaccompanied.

Police outlined the situation to the defendant who made no reply after caution, the court heard.

Hi solicitor, Gary Black, said on the occasions Devaraj was stopped he had been leaving his brother to Ballygawley initially and was stopped when returning to collect him.

Mr. Black said Devaraj instructed him that he while he had a learner’s licence at the time, he had a full Indian licence, and thought he was entitled to drive alone.

He added that he thought the provisional licence was a means of converting to a full UK licence, but that was his mistake, and he should have taken steps to clarify this.

Mr. Black told the court that Devaraj had passed his driving test on February 9.

District Judge Steven Keown gave Devaraj the benefit of the doubt, as he had a full licence in another country when it came to the speeding matter, and reflected this in his fine rather than penalty points.

Devaraj was convicted of two counts of no L-plates displayed and charges of being an unaccompanied L-driver and being an L-driver exceeding 45mph.

He received six penalty points, and £550 in fines in total.