Limavady driver’s car bursts into flames - 20 minutes after he bought it

Just 20 minutes after Wai Hung Yeung (47) drove away from Belfast after buying a ‘Smart’ car for his daughter it burst into flames and was burnt out after he escaped the vehicle which he abandoned on the hard shoulder underneath a motorway bridge on the M2 near Antrim.

As smoke engulfed the motorway, police rushed to the scene to close the road and divert traffic on March 27 this year and when they spoke to Mr Yeung his day got worse because as well as the car being gutted it turned out he thought his insurance covered him to drive the vehicle - but it didn’t.

And at Antrim Magistrates Court on Tuesday, although the judge had sympathy for the driver’s plight, the law says six points have to be imposed for using a motor vehicle without insurance although in the circumstances he did reduce an accompanying fine to a lowly £25.

District Judge Alan White said he had heard of unsuccessful purchases but buying a car which goes on fire after 20 minutes was very “unlucky”.

Judge White said Mr Yeung of Pollys Brae Road, Limavady, who was not present in court, had bought the car for his daughter and the fire meant he had lost the money he had minutes earlier paid out.