A Lurgan man has been banned from driving for nine months after police found four unrestrained children, including a five-month-old baby, in his vehicle.

Medzhnur Mehmedov, of Union Street, pleaded guilty via his solicitor to multiple offences at Craigavon Magistrates Court. He did not attend the hearing.

On 16 February, officers on routine patrol in Union Street stopped a Mercedes. Inside, they saw three children clearly under the age of 12 sitting in the back without any restraints. A woman was also in the back, holding a five-month-old baby without a seatbelt for herself or the infant.

Checks showed Mehmedov was not insured to drive the car. Seven days earlier, he had been stopped at Church Place, Lurgan, and was also driving without insurance.

The defendant’s solicitor, Harry McCourt, said his client accepted the situation was “not acceptable” and that the family, which includes four children aged five, three, 18 months and six months, has since moved to Spain.

Mehmedov was working in a factory in Lisburn and as an Uber driver, and also studying business management at a college in England, the court heard. Mr McCourt said there had been “prevarication” by his client over the case because he was worried about losing his UK licence.

District Judge Michael Ranaghan said the unrestrained children were the court’s primary concern, not the insurance offences. He noted that Spain does not have a reciprocal driving ban arrangement with the UK, unlike the Republic of Ireland, and expressed regret that the disqualification would not be enforced there.

The judge imposed a six-month ban for the insurance offence on 7 February and a nine-month ban for the February 16 offences, along with fines of £70 per offence plus a £15 offender levy.