DANGEROUS DRIVING ACCUSED

A 28-year-old man accused of seven counts of dangerous driving has had his case adjourned for a judge other than Judge Coughlan to hear.

Oliver Byrne, Strandfield House, Ballymascanlon, is charged with dangerous driving at The Long Walk, The Laurels, Bridge Street, Armagh Road, Moorland, Sportsmanhall and Barleyfield on 9 April, 2016.

He is further accused of having neither insurance or a driving licence on the same occasion.

Counsel for the defendant said this is an ID case, and his client is adamant he wasn’t driving the vehicle which wasn’t stopped on the date in question.

Byrne is willing to pay a sum of money to charity if the charges are struck out.

The prosecution indicated there were a number of garda witnesses in court to give evidence.

Judge Coughlan heard that equipment to play CCTV was not available for the scheduled hearing last Wednesday.

The judge had asked could the two sides not reach a compromise, and the view of the prosecution that it had come ‘more than halfway’ in what it proposed was not disputed by defence counsel.

However, it wasn’t acceptable to the defendant.

The case will be mentioned again on 9 January next.