A 19-year-old Strabane man, who 'helped out' a friend who was heavily intoxicated by moving his car, has been fined £330 and given six penalty points at the town's Magistrate's Court.
The court heard that police received a call at 3am on the 15th December last year from a member of the public to report a damage only car accident on the Railway Road, Strabane.
When police arrived at the scene, a Suzuki Swift had been abandoned o
utside a local niteclub. The vehicle was towed to Strabane police station and kept there until the 18th December when the defendant Daniel McLaughlin, Ballycolman Estate attended the police station and made a full admission to driving the vehicle without a licence and insurance.
McLaughlin’s solicitor said that he had been out socialising with a friend who was the owner of the vehicle. His friend had been drinking and he asked McLaughlin to move his car a short distance. Meanwhile, whilst moving the vehicle McLaughlin hit the car and damaged it.
“My client came out of the niteclub and moved his friend’s car as a favour for him. “Unfortunately he was then involved in an accident, he panicked and abandoned the car,” he said.
In sentencing district judge, Benita Boyd fined McLaughlin £250 for having no insurance and six penalty points and a further £80 fine for driving without a licence.
The full article contains 241 words and appears in Journal Tuesday Derry Edit newspaper.
