A Derrylin man who had pulled in to a jetty on his way to work before being approached by police has been convicted of having no insurance or driving licence, and possession of cannabis.

Having entered a guilty plea for the cannabis, a contest was heard in relation to the other charges at Enniskillen Magistrates Court on Monday,

Reece Nathaniel Williams (25), of Teemore Road, Derrylin, was facing the three charges in relation to the incident on October 1 last at the Tonyloman Road, Bellnaleck.

In his evidence, a police constable told the court that while on duty he and his colleague came across the car parked at the jetty just outside the village.

He got out to speak to the driver and detected a smell of cannabis, and when the driver opened the door the smell became stronger.

After this, a search was carried out of the driver and the car, where a small quantity of drugs were found.

The officer said that while the search of the vehicle was carried out, William told him that he had no insurance or driving licence, and that he passed these details on to his colleague who then notebook interviewed the defendant under caution.

Under cross-examination from Williams' solicitor, Gary Black, the officer was asked about how Williams told him the information about the insurance and licence.

He said it would have been given to him through standard questioning and asking for his licence to formally identify him, and that it was "divulged freely" by Williams.

In relation to other information about how Williams got to the jetty, the officer said he did not ask him, but assumed he must have driven there.

He said his colleague would have asked more questions of Williams during the notebook interview under caution.

The officer was asked by Mr. Black how it was that his colleague's statement said that he had been told that Williams owned the car and was on his way to work when he stopped?

The officer accepted that may have been the case, but he could not recall as he was speaking freely with the defendant.

Mr. Black continued to question the officer on the conversation he had with Williams at the scene.

The officer said the questions asked would have been to ascertain who Williams was.

In his examination of the second police officer, Mr. Black asked him if he had heard much of the conversation with Williams.

He said he had and he thought his colleague was trying to find out why Williams was there, and asked for a driving licence to prove Williams' identity and it was standard procedure.

Mr. Black queried about the disclosure of bodywork footage, but the officer said it had been deleted as it was felt it was not needed as Williams made full admissions during interview.

In his submissions, Mr. Black argued that certain questions asked to Williams should have been done under caution, and because they were not, the evidence should not be admissible.

However, the prosecution said that some of the questions put to Williams did not amount to an interview, and therefore should be admissible, and when Williams was interviewed under caution he made full admissions.

District Judge Steven Keown ruled that the preliminary questions were standard and appropriate to identify Williams, and to find out why he was at the scene, and he made an unsolicited comment which led to police checks on the car.

He convicted Williams of no insurance and no driving licence.

Mr. Black told the court the cannabis found was half a gram and was for personal use. He added that Williams "felt tricked" into making admissions at the roadside, hence why he contested the charges.

Williams received a 12-month ban from driving and was fined £500, while he also received a 12 months conditional discharge for the possession of cannabis.