David Tweed: north Antrim motorist denies causing death of former Irish rugby international and DUP and TUV councillor

Standing in the dock of Antrim Crown Court, 71-year-old Anne Broughton confirmed her identity before the single charge was put to her.

The defendant, from Whitepark Road, Ballycastle, entered a formal not guilty plea to causing the death of David Tweed by driving carelessly on the Whitepark Road on October 28, 2021.

None of the background facts of the case were opened in court, but it was reported at the time how 61-year-old Tweed died at the scene when his motorcycle was in collision with a car that day.

A former international rugby player, Tweed served on Ballymena council for the DUP and later the TUV.

As a former member of the Orange Order in Dunloy, he was involved in the Harryville dispute when loyalists picketed a Catholic church in Ballymena but he left the DUP in 2007 over the party's decision to share power with Sinn Fein and later joined the TUV.

In 2012 a Crown Court jury found him guilty of 13 counts of indecent assault and gross indecency with a child. the Court of Appeal later quashed Tweed’s convictions.

In court on Wednesday, May 7, defence KC Kieran Mallon said the defence team had instructed an engineer to produce a report ahead of the scheduled trial.

Both Mr Mallon and prosecuting KC Ciaran Murphy agreed the trial would take less than a week and freeing Mrs Broughton on continuing bail, Judge Alistair Devlin scheduled the trial to start on December 8 with a case review on September 10.