A man has avoided losing his driving licence after he was found guilty of three driving offences which came to light after a road traffic collision.

Ryan McCutcheon of Station Road, Florencecourt was found guilty of having no driving licence for the motorbike he was driving at the time of the accident, no insurance for the motorbike and also fraudulently using a vehicle registration mark.

The court heard on August 26, 2018, McCutcheon was driving along the Swanlinbar Road on a Yamaha motorbike when he was involved in a road traffic collision with a white Kia Sportage.

Police were called to the scene and spoke to the defendant. Check on the Yamaha motorbike registration showed that the registration was linked to another bike. Further checks on the chassis number confirmed this.

Police spoke to the 23 year old who told them he had no licence for the bike as well as no insurance.

Michelle McVeigh, defence solicitor for McCutcheon, told the court how her client came to the attention of the police as a result of the road traffic collision but the collision was through no fault of his driving but as a result of a third party coming into his path.

Mrs. McVeigh told how her client had bought the bike in February of this year and the registration had been the same when he bought it. He was using the motorbike to attend track days and he was only on the road that day going to a charity run.

She added the vital importance of a driving licence for McCutcheon’s employment in which he has to travel all over Northern Ireland and asked the court to take into account her client’s early guilty plea.

A letter of reference and a description of the defendant’s job was submitted to the court for District Judge Michael Ranahan to read.

Judge Ranahan decided not to disqualify the defendant from driving and instead handed down a fine and penalty points.

For having no insurance, McCutcheon was given seven penalty points and a £200 fine. For having no driving licence he was given three penalty points to run concurrently and a £125 fine. For fraudulent use of a vehicle registration mark, McCutcheon was fined £125.