Enniskillen Court House RMG10
A BELLEEK driver who was crashing into a stationary car while reverse parking, after being distracted by two police officers walking past, has been convicted of careless driving.
Aisling McHugh (23) of Whiteisland Court, Belleek appeared at Enniskillen Magistrates Court on Monday where she pleaded guilty to driving without insurance and having an incorrect form of registration mark, and disputed a charge of careless driving.
During the short hearing, District Judge Nigel Broderick viewed CCTV image from a police car which filmed McHugh’s driving on June 9 at Crevenish Park, Kesh. After viewing the footage, Judge Broderick said it showed the defendant trying to reverse park her Volkswagen Golf and colliding with a parked car.
Defence solicitor Tommy Owens said at the time of the incident two police officers were nearby and were walking by, and that McHugh had been “distracted in some form” by this. He said McHugh had been using her side mirror, drivers were often distracted and “if every time someone was brought to court for driving without due care the courts would be snowed under.”
Judge Broderick said McHugh had reversed into a car that was parked and stationary and there was “no good reason why she wasn’t able to reverse into the space and not collide with the car.” He convicted her of careless driving.
With regard the no insurance and improper registration mark, Mr Owens said McHugh had been very unfortunate on both counts. He said she has been paying for her insurance through standing order but had been using a phone app from her insurance company. However, he claimed that the day following the collision she found out she wasn’t covered by her policy as she wasn’t using the app at the time of the incident.
Mr Owens said she was equally unfortunate with her registration plate, which was on the car when she bought it. He said McHugh had successfully put the car through its MOT and there had been no issue with the registration plate. He said she had no idea there was any issue with it.
Judge Broderick fined McHugh a total of £350 and endorsed six penalty points on her licence.
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