'R' driver banned and fined for speeding at 105mph
An ‘R’ driver who was caught driving at more than 100mph was handed a two-month driving ban and £200 in fines today.
Antrim Magistrates’ Court, sitting in Ballymena, heard that at 9.25pm on June 6 this year police were on the Moneynick Road in Randalstown when they saw a speeding Ford Focus.
A prosecuting lawyer told the court the Focus was travelling at 105mph in the 70mph zone and when the car was stopped, it transpired that 18-year-old Louay Almohamad was a restricted driver having passed his test last November, but had no ‘R’ plates displayed.
Almohamad, a Syrian refugee with an address at Addison Park in Lisburn, entered guilty pleas to an ‘R’ driver exceeding 45mph and failing to display ‘R’ plates.
His defence solicitor told the court how Almohamad had “apologised to officers at the scene and he extends that apology to the court now … he accepts that it was not an appropriate speed”.
The lawyer said that having arrived in NI from war-torn Syria six years ago “conscientious and hard-working” Almohamad works part-time and attends college, but on the night in question, his sister was being rushed to hospital and he was heading there to act as an interpreter for his parents.
“This would be a very high speed for an experienced driver but it was a dangerously high speed for someone who was inexperienced,” said District Judge Broderick, who imposed the two-month driving ban and fines amounting to £200.