Judge declines to view video of Lisburn man's 'red and swollen' foot after he is unable to attend Craigavon court
A District Judge said he didn’t want to see a video of a defendant’s “swollen and red” ankle after a barrister revealed his client was unable to attend court.
Luke Christopher Poots, aged 35, from Gardners Road, Lisburn, is contesting a charge of using a mobile phone whilst driving on the A1 dual carriageway at Banbridge on June 11, 2022.
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His barrister told Craigavon Magistrates Court on Wednesday his client had tried to contact his instructing solicitor on Tuesday night but he was unable to return the call.
"Conversations happened today and there is video evidence of Mr Poots’ swollen and red ankle,” said the barrister, adding that his client is “incapacitated”.
He said he had shown the video to the Prosecution. The barrister added that his client couldn’t get himself to court.
District Judge Michael Ranaghan asked if the two police officers involved in the contest were in court. He asked what the Prosecution’s view of the adjournment was.
A Prosecutor said: “I have no objections to the adjournment given it is the first time listed for contest and I have seen a video of an injured foot.”
District Judge Ranaghan said: “I don’t necessarily want to see the video of the injured foot.”
"I have read the officer’s statements. Unless there is some significant issue, they (police officers) do seem to give reasonable evidence that the phone was actually being used albeit a distance from the face,” said the District Judge.
He adjourned the case for two weeks to fix a date for a contest.