Woman admits guilt in roundabout accident in which her dog died

A woman's pet dog died in the front seat of her Volkswagen Beetle car after she crashed on a mini-roundabout in Larne.

Elaine Currie (47), of Ballyboley Road, Larne, crashed at Linn Road in the town last November and then started haranguing another driver who was already on the roundabout and who had tried to avoid being struck by the defendant, Ballymena Magistrates Court was told.

A prosecutor said when police went to Currie’s home her face was swollen and she was very upset and it emerged her car was not insured.

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At the time she denied all the allegations, however, at court her defence barrister Aaron Thompson said there had been a change of heart and she was now pleading guilty to charges of driving without due care and attention and absence of insurance.

He said she had been “very upset” at the time of the incident because after she “proceeded through the roundabout incorrectly” her dog died at the scene in the front passenger seat.

Mr Thompson said the defendant had a very poor driving record and the incident had happened just two weeks after a year long road ban had ended.

Deputy District Judge Phillip Mateer noted that due to the defendant’s own bad driving her dog died but he said she had gone onto a roundabout without giving way and there was no real explanation why she was driving in that fashion.

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He said the previous disqualification was for matters including absence of insurance and at the time of last November’s incident she was back on the road without such cover and had other previous no insurance offences.

Currie was not present in court but the judge said she had flouted the driving laws and he banned her from the road for a year and fined her £400.

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