Photo: Chris Potter, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (credit to stockmonkeys.com) / screenshot from Popoganda Facebook

Trucker in court after video showed him allowing child to drive HGV on motorway

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A lorry driver has appeared in court after a viral video appeared to show him allowing a child to drive an HGV on a motorway near Dungannon.

The 8-second video, which went viral on various social media sites including Snapchat and Facebook last September, begins with the trucker filming the clip asking the child “you alright there, lad?”. The boy then replies “yeah” as his face turns away from the road towards the man in the passenger seat.

Before the end of the short clip, the man then urges the boy to “lift off, lift off” and utters a swear word.

 

PSNI asking Does anyone recognise the child driving the lorry down the M1! Like feck me

Posted by Popaganda on Thursday, 10 September 2020

 

According to the Belfast Telegraph, The Police Service of Northern Ireland said that the footage showed a boy “clearly under the age of gaining a valid driving licence driving a lorry while in the presence of an adult.”

A local councillor described the stunt as “reckless” and “careless” and that the person responsible should be held to account.

The police were first made aware of the video from several worried members of the public. Officers then came forward to ask anyone who recognises the boy, or the voice of the man in the passenger seat, to contact them.

It appears that the police have been successful in tracking the man down, as he appeared at Dungannon Magistrates Court yesterday. The Irish Times reports that the trucker has been accused of cruelty to children and permitting driving without an HGV licence or insurance.

In addition, the man has been charged with three counts of aiding and abetting dangerous driving, plus single counts of aiding and abetting driving while disqualified as well as permitting and causing no insurance.

On top of that, the lorry driver faces charges of dangerous driving and having no insurance himself.

A police sergeant from Northern Ireland Police Service’s Traffic Branch told the court he believed he connect the accused to all charges. District Judge Michael Ranaghan remanded the defendant on continuing bail and listed the case for mention next month.


Photo: Chris Potter, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (credit to stockmonkeys.com) / screenshot from Popoganda Facebook

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