Duke Special in the dock on dangerous driving charges

Duke Special has spoken for the first time about the dangerous driving charges levelled against him in Dundalk District Court yesterday.

The Belfast musician Peter Wilson – better known by the stage name Duke Special – appeared in Dundalk District Court before Judge Flann Brennan. The 42-year-old, who was born in Lisburn, and whose most recent album Oh Pioneer was released earlier this year, was facing a charge of dangerous driving on the M1 at Gibbstown in August 2012.

In a statement released through his publicists, Duke Special said, “On August 22nd I was driving home to Belfast from a concert and got pulled over for speeding. I hold my hands up to the fact that I was driving too fast. There was no other vehicle involved and no other mitigating circumstances.”

Gently spoken, thoughtful and hugely honest, Wilson is rightly considered one of the nicest guys in rock’n’roll. In addition to his more conventional pop explorations, he has a number of high profile theatrical works to his credit, notably appearing onstage at the Royal National Theatre’s London production of Bertolt Brecht’s classic play Mother Courage and Her Children, as well as at the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in New York, where he performed songs based on the photographs of Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Streichen and Paul Strand.

Wilson’s solicitor Eleanor Kelly asked Judge Brennan to put back the case to hear a summary of the evidence against her client. She also requested legal aid on the grounds that Wilson was a self-employed musician with three children, adding that a driving conviction would have a “detrimental” effect on his ability to make a living. However, Judge Brennan said he did not grant legal aid for driving offences. The adjournment was agreed.