Ballymena man killed in road crash to be buried

He was Kenneth James Wright, 50, understood to have been from Ballymena.

In summer 2003, then aged 37, he was jailed along with a gang of dealers in the town after he admitted five counts of supplying heroin.

He was sentenced to four years and six months imprisonment.

A court report at the time stated that the Ballymena police operation had targeted a “network of alleged key heroin pushers who were seen as the main suppliers for the rest of the Province”.

The name Kenneth James Wright recurs then repeatedly in court-related press reports concerning crime in Ballymena in the years which follow.

These include – but are not limited to – pleading guilty to possession of an offensive weapon in 2008 (aged 43), pleading guilty to driving at 60mph in a 30mph zone in 2014 (aged 49), and admitting heroin possession in October last year (aged 50).

His funeral will be at Henry’s Funeral Parlour, Broughshane, at 2.30pm.

Five people were reported injured as a result of the crash at Collin Road in Ballyclare at about 7pm on Monday.

Two remain in critical condition in the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast.

The incident involved a VW Amarok, a VW Golf and a Vauxhall Vectra.