A Co Wexford man has been fined at a court in Armagh for illegally transporting waste over 10 years ago.
The case of Luke Connors, of Enniscorthy, was heard at Armagh Magistrates’ Court, sitting at Newry Courthouse on Tuesday.
The 41-year-old was charged with failing to wear a seat belt, carrying a child under 14 without a seatbelt, transporting controlled waste while not being a registered carrier and unlawful transport of waste originating in Republic of Ireland for disposal in the United Kingdom without the consent of authorities concerned.
Despite the defendant not appearing in court, a defence lawyer said that he was pleading guilty to all the offences.
The court heard that on March 30, 2012, police were on duty in the Armagh area, when they observed a male driving on the Madden Road in Keady without a seatbelt on.
The vehicle was stopped and the driver’s details were ascertained. On speaking to the defendant, police observed that he was not wearing a seatbelt. There were also two young males in the vehicle under the age of 11 and one of them was not wearing a seatbelt.
A search of the vehicle was carried out and police located three copper tanks, a number of car batteries and an assortment of tools.
He was asked to account for the items but failed to do so. However, he did produce receipts for the tools. He was then arrested for the offences.
During interview, he stated he would obtain receipts for the suspected stolen items from farmers in the Republiuci of Ireland. Handwritten confirmation receipts were then forwarded in relation to the copper tanks and the batteries located at the back of the van.
Further enquiries were carried out and the defendant was further arrested for transporting waste without being a registered waste carrier.
District Judge Anne Marshall, on noting that the defendant had no record in Northern Ireland, imposed a total fine of £415 and banned the defendant from driving for one week.
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