One-month driving ban for Dunloy motorist detected using hand-held mobile phone
A motorist on nine penalty points has been banned from driving for a month and fined £500 after being detected using a hand-held mobile phone whilst at the wheel.
Simon Clarke (49), of Lisboy Road near Dunloy, committed the offence at the Frosses Road between Ballymena and Ballymoney on April 23 last year.
A prosecutor told Antrim Magistrates Court, sitting in Ballymena, police saw the defendant driving an Audi A4. He had a "mobile phone close to his mouth" and his "lips were moving".
He was offered a fixed penalty but that could not be taken up as he already had nine penalty points.
A defence solicitor said the defendant had received an "emergency call" in connection with his work on April 23.
The lawyer said the defendant was not present in court on Thursday as he owns a laundry business which had been "extensively damaged" by fire in recent days. The court heard the nine penalty points will remain on the defendant's licence.