New father is banned from road for a month after being clocked at 112mph in his Audi Q5
A new dad who hit a speed of 112mph said he was on the way to Antrim Area Hospital where his wife had given birth.
Callum Devine (32), with an address listed as Westbury Way in Cookstown, was detected in a 70mph zone – the New Moneynick Road dual-carriageway near Toomebridge – at 11am on Saturday May 23 this year.
At Antrim Magistrates' Court, sitting in Ballymena today, he pleaded guilty to speeding.
A prosecutor said the defendant was at the wheel of an Audi Q5.
A defence solicitor said the the circumstances were "quite unique".
He said the defendant had been driving for 15 years with no previous issues.
In May his wife had a baby at Antrim Area Hospital and the following day she rang him and he was attempting to get to the hospital to assist her.
It was their first-born child.
He was in "a bit of a panic" and he had made an overtaking manoeuvre which had been a misjudgement and a "one-off aberration”.
The lawyer added: "It is perhaps a situation when we have our first child, we maybe don't think logically when you are worried about a baby for the first time".
The solicitor said the defendant "works in a construction business with his family – he works presently on a site which is a 50 minute drive".
District Judge Nigel Broderick said the defendant was still creating danger by doing such a speed and he said people doing over 100mph often say they had an urgent need to get somewhere.
There must be a deterrence in such cases and he banned the defendant from driving for a month along with a £200 fine.
He is lucky he is not being disqualified for longer," added Judge Broderick.