Head of Co Armagh haulage business given 'short' driving ban after he was caught travelling at almost 90mph on M1 near Lurgan

Damien Gerald Toner, aged 41, from Coolmillish Road, Armagh, appeared before Craigavon Magistrates Court on Friday charged with speeding and failing to produce his driving licence.

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Toner’s lawyer said his client had nine penalty points on his licence and asked that the District Judge impost an alternative to further points.

A Prosecutor told the court that on November 5 last year police spotted the defendant driving at 89 mph for around half a mile on the M1 near Lurgan. He was asked to produce his licence at Armagh police station but failed to do so.

Toner’s lawyer said his client is a married man with three children. He revealed Toner was driving the family car however he is a professional lorry driver with a firm owned by his family.

“His wife is also involved in that firm. There are two other full-time drivers who each driving daily lorries into the Republic of Ireland, over to England and throughout the north.”

The lawyer said Toner has a record but described it as "not the worst”. He told the court that the six penalty points Toner received for permitting no insurance was on the basis that one of his employees drove without insurance. “The proper defendant in that case ought to have been the company and he didn’t realise that."

The lawyer added that Toner is "effectively” the head of the company. “The family income depends entirely on that,” he said, adding that he could cope with a short disqualification but every day would cost him and his family money.

"He is concerned that would be the end of their enterprise,” he said, asking the judge to “measure his displeasure” via a financial penalty.

District Judge Michael Ranaghan said: “This is one of those occasions when the imposition of penalty points would have a draconian effect on you and more importantly your three children. I give credit for the plea and I will deal with this by way of a short disqualification.”

He banned Toner from driving for three weeks and fined him £250 plus the £15 Offender Levy on the speeding charge. For failing to produce his licence, he fined Toner £100.