Coalisland man handed suspended sentence after third no insurance offence

The court heard how Anthony Campbell, 30, from Glen Park, was stopped on Gortgonis Road on October 19 in a Silver Mercedes after a check showed that there was no policy in place.

He told the officers that his insurance had lapsed as he had failed to pay his last direct debit.

The defendant’s solicitor told the court that Campbell had suffered severe bouts of depression and had been off work for six months.

Handing down a nine month driving disqualification and a prison sentence of two months, which he suspended for two years, District Judge John Meehan said: “He has a prolific driving record... beginning way before any ‘work related stress’. I take a firmly sceptical attitude towards that assertion. This is his third no insurance. He has an entrenched attitude... yet he instructs that it was an isolated incident.

“You have a long-standing anti-social attitude to driving. Only a custodial sentence will have you change your ways.

“Nothing else appears able to have you recognise that you either have a current policy or stay off the road.”

He also handed down a fine of £350 and an offender’s levy of £15.