Woman "buried her head in the sand", court told

A mother has been warned she will go to prison if she continues to carry out illegal motoring offences.

The case of Sophie Marion Ann Gillespie, (26), of Market Street, Tandragee, was heard at Craigavon Courthouse sitting on Friday, September 30.

A prosecutor told the court that on September 30 last year, the defendant was stopped driving north bound on the A1 motorway near Dromore.

Gillespie initially denied being a disqualified driver with further enquiries showing her insurance was invalidated by the fact she was disqualified.

In her defence, the court heard that Gillespie has a young family and during that period of time she was moving from place to place and job to job, effectively “burying her head in the sand”.

It was added that the defendant knows she will go to prison if she continues to drive whilst disqualified and she has never reclaimed the car after it was seized.

A defence solicitor outlined that Gillespie is currently disqualified until April 2024.

District Judge Bernie Kelly imposed a four month custodial sentence for driving whilst disqualified and a three month custodial sentence for no insurance.

Those periods of custody were suspended for a period of two years.

If invoked, the suspended sentence will run consecutively with a previous four month suspended sentence in January this year – totalling eight months.

Furthermore, Gillespie was disqualified in each case for a period of 12 months.