A 50-year-old man from Craigavon has been handed a four-month driving ban and £380 in fines after driving the wrong way down a Lurgan street towards the train station while the railway gates were closed.

The incident happened on 4 November last year as police were travelling along Charles Street in Lurgan. At the junction with William Street, they saw a Seat Ateca driving on the wrong side of the road towards the railway station at speed, forcing another driver pulling out of a parking space to take evasive action.

Officers followed the vehicle into Lurgan train station car park and found that the driver, Ciaran Rice of Clanrolla Park, Craigavon, held only a provisional licence which had expired and was not insured to drive the car. He admitted taking the vehicle, which belonged to his mother-in-law, without permission to collect his son.

At Craigavon Magistrates Court, Rice pleaded guilty to charges including careless driving, no insurance, taking a vehicle without authority, and failing to display L plates or be accompanied by a qualified driver. District Judge Michael Ranaghan noted that Rice was fortunate to have been charged with careless rather than dangerous driving, given that he was on the wrong side of the road.

Defence solicitor Suin Downey described the driving as unacceptable but told the court that using the wrong side of William Street to bypass queuing traffic when the railway gates are down is a common practice in the area.

For each offence, Rice was disqualified from driving for four months and fined £75, plus a £15 offender levy, bringing the total to £380. He was given 14 weeks to pay.