Seventh conviction for banned driver

William Dunlop (39), of Brown Drive, Maghera, was also uninsured and had given police a false name when stopped on April 26 this year in Ballymena.

Defence barrister Michael Smyth told Ballymena Magistrates Court there been a gap in offending and the previous driving whilst disqualified matter was in 2017.

The lawyer said in April this year the defendant was on a trip to a graveyard and “wasn’t thinking straight” and told police a different name “because he had panicked”.

District Judge Nigel Broderick said the defendant had a “very poor record” and “not without some hesitation” he was not jailing him.

The defendant was given a five months prison sentence, suspended for two years; banned from driving for three years and fined £100.

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