Co Derry teenager fined for having windscreen sticker obscuring view of road
A Co Derry teenager who had a sticker on his car windscreen obscuring his view of the road and traffic ahead, was fined £75 at Magherafelt Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
Prosecuting counsel told the court that the 19-year-old was stopped in the A6 area of Toome by police carrying out anti-social driving duties in the vicinity.
Cathaoir Irwin, of Whistlebare Cottages, Dungiven, was fined a further £150, with a £15 offender's levy, on two counts of having the incorrect form of registration marks.
Counsel said police were on patrol at 9pm on March 1 this year, when they stopped Irwin in a Volkswagen car at Creagh Road coming from the direction of Magherafelt.
He said there was a sticker on the windscreen of the vehicle which would have made the driver unable to have a full view of the road ahead of him.
The lawyer said the registration plates had the incorrect font and spacing of letters and numbers.
District Judge Conor Heaney said he had seen a photograph of the sticker and remarked that he would take a “judicial note” of it. He said the sticker alone would have attracted attention to the vehicle.
Admitting the offences, defence solicitor said he would have got the “Nobel Prize for stupidity” if there was one. He pointed out that Irwin had just purchased the car and stuck the sticker on the windscreen.
Pleading with the court to treat him leniently, the solicitor added that the defendant is employed in the construction industry.