While the police say “it’s a rarity you get to arrest the same person twice in one day”, that’s exactly what happened this weekend as the same motorist was arrested on two separate occasions for dangerous driving.

As a member of the Road Policing Interceptors team drove to work on Saturday past Sprucefield, they observed “some extremely dangerous driving” on the A1 dual carriageway which was also reported by concerned members of the public.

The driver of a Volkswagen Passat was located shortly after in Belfast and was stopped using Pre-Emptive vehicle tactics in order to prevent any potential pursuit with a male, who only held a provisional Republic of Ireland driving licence, arrested for dangerous driving and driving with no licence.

They were taken to a local Custody Suite and charged to appear in court at a later date, but only a matter of hours after, the same driver in the same vehicle was stopped once again in the Newry area.

placeholder image — Police arrested the same motorist twice in one day over the weekend

Yet again they were taken to the local Custody Suite and charged to appear in court at the next available date, which will be on Monday morning.

"In this job its a rarity you get to arrest the same person twice in one day, yesterday was one of those rare occasions,” Police North Belfast posted on Facebook on Sunday afternoon. “Yesterday a team member from Road Policing Interceptors (Sprucefield) observed some extremely dangerous driving on the A1 dual carriageway as they headed into work (involving the VW Passat pictured), so dangerous that this driving was also reported to Police by a number of other concerned motorists. This was also captured on dashcam.

“The vehicle was located a short time later by other members of the team being driven in Belfast. The vehicle was stopped using Pre-Emptive vehicle tactics in order to prevent the likelihood of a pursuit.

“As a result a male was arrested for Dangerous driving and Driving with No Driving Licence. The male held a Provisional ROI driving licence which does not permit the holder to drive in Northern Ireland (this is clearly stated on the licence).

“The driver was taken to a local Custody Suite where they were charged to appear in court at a later date.

“Fast forward a few hours till the early hours of Sunday morning and the driver from the Passat had clearly not learnt from their earlier experience as Interceptors stopped the vehicle again this time in the Newry area still being driven by the same male as earlier in the shift.

"The male was arrested for the second time in the shift and again taken to a Custody Suite where this time they were charged to appear at the next available Court which will be Monday morning. They'll have a few hours in Police Bed and Breakfast to reflect over their actions.

“After leaving Custody, Interceptors observed some further questionable driving in the Lisburn area and decided to speak with the driver (of a Ford Focus). This driver subsequently failed a roadside preliminary breath test and was arrested for Driving with Excess alcohol.”