Driver charged with smuggling

A man from Co Monaghan was charged in Belfast Magistrates' Court yesterday with smuggling 18,000 litres (4,000 gallons) of diesel…

A man from Co Monaghan was charged in Belfast Magistrates' Court yesterday with smuggling 18,000 litres (4,000 gallons) of diesel oil into Northern Ireland at the weekend.

Mr John Rice (20), of no fixed address but understood to be from the Carrickmacross area, was remanded in custody until today.

Police stopped the lorry, loaded with loose peat, which he was driving near Keady in south Armagh on Saturday, the court was told. Under the peat they found a tank containing the oil.