Cookstown teenager caught driving car with 'mechanical faults' loses licence for two months

Eighteen-year-old Jon-Paul Tracey, from Killiucan Road, Cookstown, was also fined a total of £500 with a £15 offender's levy for having no insurance, using a vehicle in a dangerous condition, having no Vehicle Test Certificate, using it without a Vehicle Excise Licence, and failing to display ‘R’ plates.

Prosecuting counsel told Dungannon Magistrates Court on Friday that police on mobile patrol at Mill Road, Cookstown, on January 6, at 7 pm, stopped the defendant after checks showed there was no insurance for the Hyundai Amica.

The lawyer said police also noticed there were no ‘R’ plates displayed and the vehicle did not appear up to road safety requirements. She added that subsequent checks revealed a number of mechanical faults.

Admitting the offences defence solicitor Stephen Atherton explained that Tracey is a new driver who has never been in trouble with police before and worked with his father.

Mr Atherton said he has two insurance certificates but had bought this vehicle, which was in poor condition, with the intention of fixing it up with the help of friends.

He said he had taken the vehicle from a nearby shed “a very short journey” to get fuel when he was detected by the police.

Mr Atherton said Tracey is a “hardworking young man” from a respected family and appeared in court accompanied by his mother.

He added that the defendant was also completing his joinery apprenticeship at Omagh Technical College.