A 21-YEAR-OLD man who made a “stupid” decision to nip to the shop in a Massey Ferguson tractor only 10 days after receiving a driving ban has narrowly avoided going to jail.

Adam Prentice, of Ashbrooke Road, Tempo, was charged with using a motor vehicle without insurance and driving while disqualified at Aghintain Road, Fivemiletown on March 21 this year.

Prentice had initially denied the offences and had been due to contest the charges before Fermanagh Magistrates Court on Monday.

However, just before the contested hearing was about to start, defence counsel, Mark Lennon, instructed by solicitor Brian Charity, indicated that his client would now be pleading guilty to both charges.

The court heard that, at 7.50pm, an off-duty police officer was at Clabby service station when he saw the defendant enter the premises and purchase items. The off-duty officer was aware that Prentice had been disqualified from driving for eight months at Dungannon Magistrates Court on March 11 this year.

He observed the defendant leaving the shop and getting into the cab of a red Massey Ferguson tractor that was pulling a slurry tanker and driving off. The officer followed the defendant as he drove on to Clabby village, but lost sight of him as he turned around a roundabout and headed along the Murley Road.

When he was subsequently cautioned and questioned by police over the incident, the defendant continually denied driving the tractor on the evening in question.

Describing Prentice’s actions as “stupid”, the defending barrister told the court that he had been moving cattle and “felt the need to go to the shop”.

Mr Lennon said the judge would have no sympathy for the defendant, but urged him to show more sympathy for his father and mother, who he helped to run the family farm.

Urging the judge not to extend Prentice’s driving ban beyond November, the barrister also questioned whether it would be in the public interest to send him to prison. Mr Lennon said that “four hands were better than two”, and said that the defendant’s father would need the extra help for the “thousands of things” that go on in a livestock farm, particularly during the winter months.

Deputy district judge, Terence Dunlop, observed that, under the sentencing guidelines, the maximum penalty he could impose on the defendant was six months in prison.

He told the court that, within 10 days of receiving a driving ban, Prentice was “nipping into a shop to buy something”.

The judge said that the defence counsel had offered no excuse because “clearly there is no excuse”.

Mr Dunlop said that there were no mitigating features in the case, aside from the defendant’s youth, but added that he had listened with “some sympathy” to the representations made on behalf of his parents.

Taking into account the “brazenness” of Prentice’s actions in driving within 10 days of receiving a ban, the judge imposed a two-month prison sentence, which he then suspended for two years.

Mr Dunlop also directed the defendant to serve a further six-month ban, which will be consecutive to his existing disqualification. For driving without insurance, Prentice was fined £150 and ordered to pay a £15 offender levy.