Judge concerned about prevalence of uninsured driving

A DISTRICT Court judge told a court sitting that a message needed to be sent out on the issue of driving with no insurance, saying it was becoming ‘more and more serious’.
Judge Alan Mitchell made his comments at last week’s sitting of Belmullet District Court, where he heard two cases of driving without insurance. Both involved drivers whose policies were cancelled due to nonpayment.
Judge Mitchell said the issue of motorists driving without insurance was getting ‘more and more serious’, adding that he believed that a message needed to be sent out to the public.
The court heard that Martina McDonagh (25) of 95 Springfield Court, Castlebar, was stopped by Sergeant James Mangan at Saleen, Castlebar on January 2, 2016. He said the tax on the car she was driving had expired since September 2014, and the car was seized.
Sgt Mangan said the defendant produced insurance, but after making enquiries with the insurance company, he discovered that the policy had been cancelled in November 2015 due to nonpayment.
Ms McDonagh’s solicitor Mr Gary Mulchrone said her client was paying €200 per month in instalments to AXA insurance to pay for the insurance on her car. He said she was not aware the payments had lapsed or of receiving any notification to say the policy had been cancelled.
He said she has since taken out a new policy and that she needs her licence as she is the mother of three children under six – the youngest of whom has medical problems. He added that her husband does not drive and they need the car to go to appointments.
Ms McDonagh was also accused of threatening and abusive behaviour towards Garda John Melia after he seized her car on February 27, 2016, for having no NCT certificate.
Judge Mitchell sentenced her to two months imprisonment for this offence but suspended the sentence for 12 months. In relation to having no insurance, he asked Sergeant Mangan to investigate whether the registered letter sent to Ms McDonagh had been returned to AXA.
If it was shown that the letter had not been not delivered, he said he would be sympathetic to her given her family circumstances. However, he said that if it turned out that she had received it and had chosen to ignore it, she would be facing a disqualification.
The finalisation of the matter was adjourned to June 14, to allow Sgt Mangan to investigate further. He also fined Ms McDonagh a total of €250 for having no tax or NCT certificate and for not wearing a seat belt.
Judge Mitchell also heard evidence of a separate case in which a mother of three was disqualified from driving for two years for having no insurance.
Orla Hanlon of Curraghuile South, Lisacul, Castlerea, Co Roscommon, was stopped at a Garda checkpoint at Glencastle, Belmullet, on April 13, 2016. Garda Raymond Guilfoyle explained that when Ms Hanlon subsequently produced her insurance document, he made enquiries with the insurance company, and he discovered the policy had been cancelled due to non-payment in January 2016.
Garda Guilfoyle said that when he informed Ms Hanlon of this, she said she was unaware the policy had been cancelled. He added she told him she would not be in court, as she had no transport to get to Belmullet.
Judge Mitchell fined her €300 and disqualified her from driving for three years.