Poots fined and disqualified for phoning dad while driving tractor

Poots arrived at court on Friday in a tractor and his driving ban was deferred until midnight so he could drive home

Former DUP councillor Luke Poots has been fined £300 and been banned from driving for four months, after a judge convicted him of driving a tractor while using a mobile phone.

District Judge Michael Ranaghan told the court that he believed an account from two police officers that Poots had been seen using his mobile phone while driving on the A1 road on 11 June 2022.

One police officer said he could see Poots holding the phone in front of him “like using the loud speaker mode” and he could see his lips moving.

The judge said the ban would come in at midnight on Friday, as Poots had driven a tractor around 20 miles from his home in Lisburn to Craigavon Magistrates Court for the hearing.

Poots denied the charge and gave evidence on his own behalf.

He told the judge he was on the phone with his father, DUP MLA and Assembly Speaker Edwin Poots, who checked was he using the hands-free phone.

"I said of course,” Luke Poots recounted.

According to Poots the officers would not have been able to see whether he was holding his hand in front of his chest due to the height difference between a tractor and police car.

"I was on the hands free and it’s easy to say that someone wasn’t,” he told the court.

But the judge decided the police officers "were very clear and their hand motions were very indicative as to exactly what they saw".

Having imposed the fine and four month driving ban along with a £15 offender levy, the judge granted bail for an appeal but did not give permission for Poots to drive pending that appeal.

Poots told the court he had been on his hands-free kit when police stopped him in June 2022

A police officer giving evidence said he had a clear view of Poots holding his mobile phone in his hand