Man was ‘fleeing cousin with rake’

A Castledawson man was fined a total of £350 and banned from driving for three months at Dungannon Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

Thomas Christopher McDonagh (42), of Hillhead Cottages, admitted charges of having no insurance and no driving licence on August 6 last. Bail was fixed for an appeal against the sentence.

A defence lawyer said the offences arose out of “ugly circumstances” in which McDonagh was fleeing from a cousin with a rake. He said the defendant had a provisional licence and hoped to get a full licence.

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