A fisherman based at Killybegs, Co Donegal, who was caught by police travelling at 85 to 100 m.p.h. while motorcycling back to Co Donegal after attending the funerals of five colleagues drowned off the coast of Denmark last June, was fined £40 at the Magistrates Court in Magherafelt, Co Derry, yesterday, for speeding.
Mr Liam McNally, defending, said four of the men had been close friends with whom his client, Simon Colyer (30), had grown up in Fortwilliam in Scotland.
He said the fifth victim had replaced Colyer on the boat after he had moved to work in Killybegs. Colyer had travelled to Denmark to help retrieve one of the bodies and to identify it.
The magistrate said he was being lenient with Colyer in view of the exceptional circumstances of the case.