Enniskillen courthouse
A 32-year-old man, who drove with a small child unrestrained in the front passenger seat, has been criticised by a judge for his behaviour.
Enniskillen Magistrates Court heard on Monday that police were conducting door-to-door enquiries at 4.10pm on May 19th at Trasna Way in Lisnaskea when they observed a Ford Mondeo driving towards them. Officers noted that a small child was sitting unrestrained on the knee of a woman in the passenger’s seat.
Police stopped the vehicle and spoke to the driver, Darren Hall (32) of Lakeview Drive in Lisnaskea who when asked to produce his driving documents told them: “I don’t have any, I have nothing”. Hall was charged with taking a motor without authority, having no driving licence or insurance and driving a child without a proper restraint.
The court heard that the car Hall was driving belonged to his girlfriend’s mother and that his girlfriend had been the front seat passenger holding the child. Hall made full admissions to the charges to police.
Deputy District Judge Neil Rafferty noted: “An adult using a small child as an airbag is not a good thing for the child. All of the weight goes through the child on the dashboard.”
Defence solicitor Brian Charity said his client’s girlfriend’s mother had allowed him access to the car on the date in question: “He took full advantage of that opportunity. It was a silly act on his part. He has also never held a driving licence.”
Sentencing Hall, Judge Rafferty told him: “These are not silly regulations, the rules of the road are designed to keep people safe. In the past I have dealt with too many cases of a child being injured or killed because someone in a car has decided that ‘sure it will be alright if I hold a child’. If the adult then goes towards a child it’s a tonne weight and the consequences are horrific. I regard what you did as quite serious, don’t do it again”.
Hall was fined £50 for unlawfully tasking the vehicle, £75 for no driving licence, £250 and handed a three month disqualification for no insurance and a further £100 for driving with a child unrestrained.
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