A TEMPO teenager who admitted to doing dangerous car manoeuvres known as ‘doughnuts’ in a local carpark, when he had no insurance, has been disqualified from driving and fined £700.
James McCusker (19) of Glen Road, Tempo was initially charged with dangerous driving but the charge was reduced to careless driving. At Enniskillen Magistrates Court last Wednesday his solicitor entered a guilty plea to the charge on his behalf, as well as to charges of no insurance, failing to display R plates, and having a defective tyre.
At around 3.30pm on November 27th last year a member of the public approached police to say there was a driver doing doughnut manoeuvres at Hollyhill carpark in Enniskillen. The person gave a description of the car, a BMW, and its registration number to the officers.
Checks on the car showed it wasn’t insured, and was registered to an address in Tempo. When they called to the house there was no answer.
Then, on January 3rd, police came across the BMW on the Enniskillen to Belfast Road. They stopped and spoke with the driver, McCusker. When asked by the officers he admitted to doing the doughnuts at Hollyhill in November and to having no insurance. The officers checked the car over and discovered he had a bald tyre, they also noted he was a restricted driver and did not have his R plates displayed.
Defence solicitor Bernard Corrigan said McCusker had been very candid with police about the manner of his driving. He described his driving as “foolish” and “showing off at the least.”
Mr Corrigan added McCusker, who was not present for the short hearing, was currently working for a local farmer and was training to be a mechanic.
District Judge Steven Keown said McCusker had been lucky the charge had been reduced from dangerous driving, and said the incident was “not at the lower end” of careless driving. He disqualified him from driving for a total of three months, and fined him a total of £700 with 26 weeks to pay.
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