14 arrested in North Antrim warrant operation

The arrests were made by the PSNI as part of an operation to collect outstanding money warrants with around 60 people visited in Ballymena and Coleraine.

As well as the arrests, a number of other people paid the fines that were outstanding.

A police spokesman said: “When a court imposes a fine on a defendant, that person is given a period of time in which to pay the money, or face a period of imprisonment.

“In this operation, we wrote to a number of people with overdue penalties advising them that they had seven days in which to pay, or we would enforce the warrants.

“On Monday and Tuesday (March 22 and 23)) we visited homes in the Coleraine and Ballymena areas.

“Quite a number of people had the money ready to pay the fines, and a substantial sum was collected.

“We made eight arrests in Coleraine and six in Ballymena for non-payment of the warrants, and these people were taken to HMP Maghaberry to serve their sentences in default.

“We have plans to conduct similar operations in the future,” the spokesman added.