Lurgan father was caught driving a motorbike on the M1 near Portadown as an L driver
A Co Armagh father of three young children was caught driving a motorcycle as a L driver on the M1 with an unauthorised passenger, a court has heard.
Matthew Turkington, aged 26, from Mark Street, Lurgan, appeared before Craigavon Magistrates Court charged with having no L plates displayed, driving on the motorway as an L driver and carrying an unauthorised passenger on a motorcycle.
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No facts of the case were heard in court, however the charges relate to Turkington driving a motorbike as a L driver on the M1 where he was stopped by police near the Birches, Portadown on August 31 this year. When stopped he was carrying a passenger.
Turkington’s solicitor said his client is a married man with three young children and is unemployed. He had to take someone to a medical appointment and had no other way of getting there.
"He realises he shouldn’t have been doing what he was doing and apologises to the court,” he said.
District Judge Michael Ranaghan said the intervention of his lawyer saved him from a driving disqualification.
For having no L plates and driving with an unauthorised passenger on his motorcycle, the defendant was given four penalty points to be endorsed on his licence. “That’s a total for today’s purposes of four penalty points,” said the district judge, who also fined Turkington £100 on each of the three charges before the court plus the offender levy of £15.
"That’s taking into account his plea of guilty and his young children,” said District Judge Ranaghan.