'You're having a laugh' a Portadown man told police who arrested him for driving while disqualified outside his house, Craigavon court told
“You’re having a laugh” a 33-year-old man told police after he was arrested while reversing his car outside his Portadown home for driving while disqualified.
Lewis Lucas, from Churchill Park, appeared in custody in the dock at Craigavon Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
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Lucas, who is in custody and on remand for other “more serious charges”, faced two charges before the court - driving while disqualified and no insurance.
One of the issues the defence had raised regarding the charge was whether the locus of the alleged offending, Churchill Park, Portadown, was a public place.
District Judge Michael Ranaghan told Lucas he had looked at photos of the area and was "satisfied it is a public place”. “There are no signs excluding members of the public,” he said, convicting the defendant of both charges.
Police were on patrol in the Churchill area of Portadown on February 1 this year when they spotted a VW Golf reversing across a public parking at around 10.30pm at Churchill Park.
"Police observed the vehicle drive forward and again reverse in front of the police vehicle moving approximately 12 feet,” said the Prosecutor, adding police saw a man getting out of the car and walking to an address in Churchill Park.
They recognised him as the defendant and were aware he was a disqualified driver. The car was empty, the keys were in the ignition and the engine was running and the radio was on.
When police spoke to Lucas and cautioned him, he responded: “You’re having a laugh.”
Lucas’s barrister Mr John Paul McCann explained his client was disqualified from driving on December 4 last year for three years. His client’s explanation was that he was simply moving the vehicle to clean it as he intended to sell the car.
“He thought he was allowed to move the car. I made a legal argument on his behalf but unfortunately that was unsuccessful,” said Mr McCann.
"He is in custody on remand on more serious matters and is currently in the process of building remand time,” said the barrister, asking for a sentence that doesn’t impact on building remand time.
Lucas was sentenced to three months in jail for each of the two charges, concurrent, and suspended for 12 months, and given an eight-month driving ban.