Restricted driver was doing speeds up to 100mph

An '˜R' driver restricted to not exceeding 45mph was detected travelling at 90mph to 100mph on the motorway, Craigavon Magistrates Court heard last Friday.

Michael Taylor (25), from Ward Avenue, Lisburn, admitted exceeding the 45mph on May 17 this year.

He was fined £300, ordered to pay a £15 offender’s levy and given five penalty points.

The court heard that police were travelling on the M1 between Lurgan and Moira at 10.50pm when a car passed them at speed.

They followed it over a distance of half a mile and it reached speeds of between 90mph and 100mph.

Police stopped the car and spoke to the defendant who was driving.

He told them: “I was speeding, not much I can say.”

Mr Peter Prenter, representing the defendant, said it was a high speed made worse by the fact that Taylor was an ‘R’ driver.

He explained that his client was coming home late at night and had allowed his speed to creep up.

Mr Prenter said that Taylor’s employer was with him in court and handed in a testimonial to the court, adding that his licence was essential to his job which covers all of Northern Ireland.

He also added that the defendant’s mother had mobility issues and he handed in to court a letter from her.

Mr Prenter asked the court to impose the maximum number of points, five, so his client would know that the slightest slip would put him off the road.

District Judge Sean O’Hare said that when he heard the facts of the case he thought there was no way the defendant could not have known what speed he was doing when driving a small car.

He added that at the first blush a disqualification seemed automatic because of the excessive speed.

But, the judge went on, he had listened to what Taylor’s solicitor had said, the defendant was a young man in employment and there was a very moving letter from his mother.

Imposing five points the judge said he would impose a higher fine than he normally would to emphasis that this type of speed was unacceptable.