A TEENAGE wannabe DJ who organised a rave in a Co Antrim forest was handed a £1,000 fine for breaching Covid regulations.
Antrim Magistrates Court, sitting in Ballymena today, heard that when police were called to an illegal rave at Tardree Forest on November 7 they found around 40 people along with lights, a sound stage holding eight speakers and a mixing desk.
The court heard 19-year-old Matthew Armitage "confirmed that the equipment belonged to him" and although he did not attend court today, defence solicitor Gabriel Ingram entered a guilty plea to an offence of breaching Coronavirus regulations on his behalf.
He revealed that Armitage, from Kensington Park in Portadown, holds "lofty ambitions to move to England" and become a full time house music DJ.
Mr Ingram said Armitage had been organising free parties prior to lockdown and while this party had been described as a rave, those who attended were all "close friends" of the defendant.
District Judge Nigel Broderick, said it was a "serious matter to organise a incident of this type in the middle of a pandemic" and imposed a £1,000 fine, allowing the teenager six months to pay.
