Man fined £150 for possession of a knuckle duster

A man has appeared in Derry Magistrates Court charged with possessing an offensive weapon.

Damien O'Riley, 32, of Glenabbey Drive in Derry, was stopped on July 26 this year when driving. 

Upon searching the van he was driving, police found a knuckle duster on the driver's side. 

O'Reilly told them that it was his but he had never used it, telling police that he had it for novelty reasons.

Defence solicitor Seamus Quigley told the court that O'Reilly's previous record was almost entirely driving offences and that there was no history of violent crime.

O'Reilly received a fine of £150.