Borrowing a car leads to no insurance plea

A Lurgan man has pleaded guilty to a single count of having no insurance.

The case of John Donnelly, (43), of Dingwell Park, was heard at Craigavon Courthouse sitting on Friday, June 17.

The court heard that on December 23 last year, whilst performing a police check, officers stopped a black coloured vehicle on Taghnevan Walk, Lurgan.

Systems showed there was no valid insurance in place and Donnelly was given a producer to produce within seven days, and despite saying he was recovering from COVID and would do so when negative, subsequent attempts to contact the defendant hadn’t been successful.

In his defence, the court was told that Donnelly was insured as a comprehensive driver on his own vehicle and thought that would cover him when he borrowed a car belonging to his friend.

 It was conceded that he may have been covered if his friend had his own vehicle insured but he didn’t.

District Judge Bernie Kelly imposed a £250 fine and endorsed Donnelly’s licence with six penalty points.