A Portadown teenager who was caught travelling at 102mph on the motorway has been disqualified from driving for two months.
A district judge told the 19-year-old: “If you had not been stopped, how would your father feel if the emergency services had to cut his daughter’s limp, lifeless body from that car?”
Laura Suzanne Jackson, of Tarthlogue Road, pleaded guilty to excess speed at Craigavon Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.
Court heard that on October 2, at around 7.30pm, the defendant was observed by police travelling at 102mph on the M1.
Defence solicitor Colleen McCreesh stated that Jackson, who attended court with her father, had “no excuse”.
She said: “This was a severe lack of judgement, which fell within her probationary period.”
Court heard that the defendant, who was one and a half months away from completing this period, worked as a supervisor at a butchers.
This role requires her to travel between three different locations.
District Judge Bernie Kelly stated: “She has to lose her licence for travelling at 102mph in the dark on the motorway.”
She asked Jackson: “What is the overall stopping distance for a car travelling at 102mph?”
When the defendant was unable to answer, the district judge said: “You don’t know the answer, how would you control that vehicle in an emergency?”
She continued: “If you had not been stopped, how would your father feel if the emergency services had to cut his daughter’s limp, lifeless body from that car?
“Anyone behind the wheel of a car who cannot, without looking at the speedometer, tell the difference between 70mph and 102mph should not be driving.”
Judge Kelly stated: “This is a horrendous speed. Do you know how many people you could have killed?”
Jackson was handed a two-month disqualification and ordered to pay a fine of £200, along with the offender’s levy of £15, within eight weeks.
District Judge Kelly added: “I have picked two months so that when you have to get buses and trains to get places you will appreciate your licence.
“It will also be fun for you to see how much your insurance goes up by.”
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