A Belfast man has been fined and banned from driving after being caught travelling at 104mph on the M2 with two young children unrestrained in the back seat.

Rene Lakatos, 36, of Strandburn Drive, pleaded guilty at Antrim Magistrates' Court, sitting in Ballymena, to excess speed and driving with children not properly restrained. He required an interpreter during the hearing.

Police detected Lakatos in an MG car at Rathbeg on the M2 near Antrim town at 9.20pm on June 25. When stopped, the car contained a man in the front passenger seat and two women in the back with three children under five. Two of the children, approximately two years old, were sitting on the laps of the adult women without proper restraints.

A prosecutor stated that Lakatos told police the front seat passenger had a sore eye and he was taking him to hospital. Police noted he had already passed Antrim Area Hospital when he was stopped.

Lakatos's defence barrister said he has a Slovakian driving licence. She explained that the defendant and his wife had spent the day at a beach in Portrush with friends, including a husband, wife and children. The man became unwell and they feared he might be having a stroke. Both families live in Belfast, and Lakatos said he would drive the man to a hospital in Belfast. He did not know the Antrim area and was unaware of Antrim Area Hospital, and his phone had run out of charge so they could not call an ambulance, she said.

District Judge Nigel Broderick noted Lakatos had no previous record and had pleaded guilty. However, he highlighted the aggravating features: travelling at 104mph with two unrestrained young children. The judge said Lakatos had placed himself and the young children in danger.

Lakatos was disqualified from driving for two months and fined £300.