A man has been handed a 14 month driving ban for his eighth conviction for no insurance.
Sean Murphy, 51, of Forest Road, Mullaghbawn pleaded guilty to using a vehicle without insurance and excess speed at Armagh Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.
These offence were accrued by the defendant over two separate incidents last year.
It was heard that on August 25, 2018, Murphy was detected driving a Ford Focus on the Umgola Road, Armagh, which showed up on police checks as being uninsured.
The defendant was issued with a notice to produce a policy to Ardmore Police Station within seven days but failed to do so.
On November 8, at around 1pm, a speed camera detected Murphy travelling at 72mph on the Gosford Road – 12mph in excess of the speed limit.
The defendant was offered a fixed penalty but failed to complete this within the given time.
Defence counsel stated: “With regards to the insurance, he instructs that this was his wife’s car and he believed he was insured to drive it through his own policy.”
Deputy District Judge Peter King commented: “I would believe that if it were not for his seven previous convictions for no insurance.”
Defence counsel said: “The last of those was in 2009, as for the speeding he had been taking his daughter’s car for an MOT appointment and had been running late.”
Deputy District Judge King stated: “Mr Murphy, this is your eighth conviction for no insurance. I cannot keep the penalty to the minimum on this occasion.”
The defendant was disqualified from driving for 14 months and ordered to pay a fine of £700, along with the offender’s levy of £15, within 26 weeks.
