Co Tyrone man spotted holding a phone to his ear while driving a lorry loses licence for two months
A lorry driver spotted holding a phone to his ear, was disqualified for two months at Dungannon Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
Thirty-one-year-old Christopher John Ross, from Ballygawley Road in Dungannon, was also fined £300 with a £15 offender’s levy arising out of the incident at Gortgonis Road, Coalisland.
Prosecuting counsel said in the afternoon of May 25, police on mobile patrol observed the defendant driving a yellow lorry approaching a junction with a mobile phone in his right hand held to his right ear and appeared to be speaking into it.
A defence solicitor explained that the defendant had been helping a friend clear out a front garden and at the time he was stopping the vehicle on the approach to a stop sign.
He stressed the police had accepted this was the situation.
The solicitor added that the defendant, who already has six penalty points on his licence, has an 11-year-old son.