Followed police car after arrest of son - court told

Alastair Mark Paul Kinney, of 262 Kilraughts Road, was originally charged with dangerous driving and assaulting a police officer, but at North Antrim Magistrates Court on Wednesday last, the prosecution withdrew the assault summons and reduced the dangerous driving charge.

Kinney, who admitted the offence, was fined 200 and had five points endorsed on his licence.

The court was told that while police were taking a person to Coleraine from Ballycastle, a car approached their vehicle and eventually overtook it causing the police driver to take evasive action.

The police vehicle was then said to have been blocked in, but managed to drive off and a short time later defendant's vehicle skidded past them coming to a stop on the wrong side of the road. Kinney was then arrested.

A solicitor for Kinney firmly refuted that his client had assaulted an officer and said there was no suggestion of dangerous driving.

He said Kinney had to give up his job to become a 24-hour carer for his sick wife.

The solicitor said Kinney's son had been arrested in Ballycastle just moments prior to his client and his wife coming from a night out and returning to the town. Defendant came upon the scene of the arrest moments after police had left with their son.

He took a decision to follow the police vehicle, and accepted that the proper manner would have been to have stayed behind the car, but in the heat of the moment he took the wrong course of action.

The solicitor pointed out that in 17 years of driving Kinney had not so much as a penalty point and never had any convictions.

He said his client had sustained some injuries during the initial stop when the police car drove away while defendant was speaking to an officer and when he pursued it again, dampness on the road caused the car to slide on the road and police, at that stage, perceived that to be dangerous.

"My client accepts his driving was careless on this occasion. This was the first time he had ever been arrested," the solicitor added.

District Judge, Richard Wilson, asked Kinney why in 20 years driving he still only had a learner's licence.

Defendant said it was because of the written test.