MMA fighter, who is at tournament in Thailand, gets driving ban at Craigavon court for pulling out in front of a PSNI car in Lurgan
The father of a semi-professional MMA fighter, who is in Thailand at a tournament, has taken the blame for his son not having vehicle insurance.
The case against Jamie McCaugherty, aged 22, from Avondale Green, Lurgan, was before Craigavon Magistrates Court where he faced charges of having no insurance and failing to produce his driving licence.
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McCaugherty’s solicitor, Mr Pat Vernon, said his client pleaded guilty to both charges but he didn’t have his client’s licence in court as he is Thailand.
The court heard that on October 31 last year, police were on patrol in Taghnevan Drive, Lurgan when a Vauxhall Insignia pulled out of a junction in front of them ‘causing them to brake sharply’.
Police discovered the defendant was not insured on the vehicle however at the time he assured police he was insured.
Mr Vernon said his client is a ‘semi-professional’ MMA fighter who spends a lot of his time abroad. “He is currently in Thailand at a tournament at the minute and that’s why he couldn’t be here.”
The solicitor explained that McCaugherty normally drives his father’s car. The father normally puts his son as a named driver on his insurance.
“Because his son spends half his time either in training camps or abroad in Dubai and he is a young driver, it was costing his father £196 a month to put him on the insurance,” the solicitor said.
"He decided to put him on the insurance when his son was back in the jurisdiction. The father blames himself saying he tried to put his son on the insurance via the App but it kept ‘bouncing back’.
"It went out of his head and when his son came back he had totally forgot that he hadn’t put him on the insurance. The son actually argued with the policeman as he assumed he was insured,” said Mr Vernon, adding the defendant will be out of the country until March, depending on how far he gets in the tournament.
District Judge Michael Ranaghan banned McCaugherty from driving for seven days. “By the time he gets home that will have lapsed and hopefully this semi-professional MMA fighter’s father will not be too angry.” He was fined £100 on each charge plus £15 offender levy.