Good deed to pick up his mother's car landed a Co Armagh man (22) with a £300 fine, Craigavon court hears
A short trip to pick up his mother’s car resulted in a £300 fine for a Co Armagh man.
Diogo Fernandes, aged 22, from Union St, Portadown, appeared before Craigavon Magistrates Court on Wednesday to face a number of driving charges including being an unaccompanied L driver, using a vehicle without Insurance, and failure to display L plates.
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Police were on patrol in West Street, Portadown, on July 25 this year when they spotted the defendant driving a Mazda and noted the insurance policy was for someone in their 40s while the defendant appeared much younger.
Police discovered he had only a provisional driving licence and no L plates were displayed on the vehicle. Furthermore, he was the only occupant of the vehicle.
The defendant’s solicitor Mr Philip Reid explained it was his mother’s car. She has epilepsy and had a seizure the night before.
“He was asked to go and pick up the car that morning and bring it home from the car park. He’s a Portuguese young man who’s been living here since 2013.
"Until recently he was working for KFC but at the moment is currently out of work. He aims to pass his test which might open other avenues for employment,” said Mr Reid asking the District Judge to "keep him on the road”.
District Judge Suzanne Rice fined Fernandes £50 for driving without supervision and gave him two penalty points. For no insurance he was fined £200 and given two penalty points and for no L plates he was fined £50 and given two penalty points – resulting in a total of six penalty points.