Former DUP councillor Luke Poots fined £1,000 for phone call to father Edwin Poots while driving a tractor after giving up on appeal
Former DUP councillor Luke Poots has had a four-month driving ban overturned but his fine increased to £1,000 for driving a tractor while on a mobile phone call with his father, Stormont Speaker Edwin Poots.
The 35-year-old was due to appeal both his conviction and sentence for the incident but defence solicitor Patrick Higgins confirmed that, almost three years on, Poots was now accepting his guilt.
Last October Poots was put off the road for four months and fined £300 after he contested and was ultimately convicted of using a mobile phone while driving.
During an appeal at Craigavon County Court of Appeal, a prosecuting lawyer told Judge McColgan KC how two officers were driving along the A1 dual carriageway on June 11, 2022 when they spotted a New Holland tractor ahead.
As they pulled alongside, the officers could see the driver was holding a mobile phone in his right hand, “close to his mouth” while his left hand was on the steering wheel with Poots “appearing to be using the speaker function” on the phone.
"Police activated their blue lights and proceeded to stop the tractor,” said the lawyer, adding that although Poots was offered a fixed penalty notice he declined it.
During the original hearing last year, a police officer said Poots was “being obstructive….and getting quite irate” when he refused to accept a fixed penalty notice so he had engaged his body-worn camera.
Having been cautioned at the side of the road, Poots said: “I was driving down this carriageway from Banbridge to Hillsborough with my hands-free kit which is still hanging on the door of the tractor which the officer saw me using with my hands-free system. The officer has offered me no evidence of me being on the phone despite having cameras on.”
"Is this a joking matter? Are you making fun of this? There is nothing to suggest that I am on the phone. What is the point of using a hands-free to get hassle?”
Giving evidence on his own behalf when he contested the charge last year, Poots, from Gardners Road, Lisburn, said “I was on the phone with my father” when he saw the police behind him.
According to Poots, the officers would not have been able to see if he was holding his hand in front of his chest as they demonstrated but in addition, he claimed that the hands free kit “is crystal clear” so why would he not have used it.
Under cross examination from the prosecution, Poots suggested at one stage that the A1 “is a hotspot for farmers being targeted.”
In the appeal court hearing, Mr Higgins confirmed Poots was abandoning his protestations of innocence, emphasising that his client had been off the road for three weeks before being granted permission to drive pending the appeal and that finding himself on the front page of newspapers “has been a real lesson” for him.
As Judge McColgan highlighted, “he did turn up to court in his tractor which was certain to attract attention”.
Having heard that self-employed farmer Poots “is able to pay any fine imposed” and that his licence is essential to him, the judge ordered him to pay £1,000 within four weeks and endorsed his licence with six penalty points.