Motorist hit speed of 100mph on way to Belfast to collect son who 'missed last train home to Ballymoney'
A motorist detected doing a speed of 100mph said he was on the way to Belfast to collect his son after the last train home had been missed, a court has heard.
At Antrim Magistrates Court, sitting in Ballymena on Tuesday (February 24), Bernard Brian Moore (56), of Cabra Court in Bendooragh near Ballymoney, admitted speeding.
The detection was made at 12.30am on November 23 last year at Lisnevenagh Road dual-carriageway - a 70mph zone - near Ballymena.
The court was told that the defendant had a record and he had penalty points on his licence.
A defence solicitor handed in references for the defendant including one from former Stormont minister, Ballymoney DUP councillor Mervyn Storey.
The solicitor said that the defendant's son had been in Belfast and that he had missed the last train home and had not enough money left to get an "Uber" home at "£85".
The defendant decided to go and get him, the court was told.
The solicitor said that there was very little traffic on the road at 12.30am and the defendant accepts that he should not have been doing such a speed.
The defendant was banned from driving for a month and was fined £200.
District Judge Nigel Broderick said: "If you follow the media, I take a very stern view to those who drive at 100mph plus. Our roads aren't safe if people drive at that speed because you increase the risk of an accident and cause serious, if not fatal, injury."