Motorist convicted of having no seatbelts on children for planned Ballymena-to-Dublin journey in a crammed car in the middle of the night
A motorist’s vehicle on the way to Dublin Airport was overloaded when stopped by police in Ballymena.
Marko Kolev, 34, with an address listed as Upper Princes Street in Ballymena, was charged with using a vehicle in a dangerous condition and carrying children without seatbelts in use.
Ballymena Magistrates' Court was told the offences were detected at 2am on September 13, 2023, at Antrim Road in Ballymena.
It was a BMW and it was overloaded with "six passengers, including two young children" despite there only being five seats.
A two-year-old boy was unrestrained in his mother's lap and a six-year-old girl was not wearing a seat belt nor did she have any form of booster seat.
A prosecutor said the defendant told police he was "in a hurry as he was taking the vehicle occupants to Dublin Airport".
Police told the defendant that because of the overloading the journey could not continue, and a taxi was then ordered.
The defendant was convicted by district judge Nigel Broderick.
The defendant was also convicted of charges of having a defective tyre and absence of a driving licence in Ballymena on January 31 last year.
The defendant was banned from driving for three months and was fined £500.