Maintenance worker, who parked across car park entrance during Country Comes to Town in Portadown, didn't know he'd blocked access, Craigavon court hears
A 33-year-old man, who parked across a car park entrance during Country Comes to Town in Portadown, didn’t realise he had blocked access, a court hears.
The case against Arun Anthony, aged 33, of Ulsterville Park, Portadown was before Craigavon Magistrates Court on Wednesday where he faced charges including no insurance, parking so as to obstruct access and having no R plates displayed.
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Police on foot patrol in Portadown town centre on September 20 this year were approached by a member of the public who said their vehicle was blocked into a car park at Thomas Street Portadown by another vehicle which had parked across the access way.
Police located the address of the last registered owner of the vehicle and spoke with the driver on the telephone via a family member.
Police checks showed Anthony didn’t have valid insurance and he was a restricted driver without displaying R plates.
Asked if he was aware he blocked access for 2-3 hours, he said he understood that when police called him but hadn’t noticed it at the time. “It was closed when I came here,” he said.
Anthony’s solicitor Mr Philip Reid said his client is a maintenance worker and has been living in Northern Ireland since 2023 with his wife and six-year-old child.
Mr Reid explained that Anthony had taken his wife’s car to meet a friend. “On that day was Country Comes to Town so the town was very busy. He said there was a car parked in front of him and behind him and he parked in front of a gate which was closed at the time.”
The solicitor explained that his client travels to and from Dungannon to work and is planning to buy a vehicle for that as his wife needs her car for her employment.
He asked that the District Judge consider a short disqualification rather than the revocation of his client’s licence. Mr Reid said his client was at work.
District Judge Michael Ranaghan said the imposition of penalty points would be "disproportionate” to the overall offending and decided to issue a “discretionary” disqualification for the no insurance and no R plates charges of three weeks. Anthony was also fined £100 for each of the three offences plus £15 Offender Levy.