A 25-YEAR-old West Cork man, who was caught driving while disqualified, threw himself on the mercy of Skibbereen District Court.
‘He knows if he were to do that again he would be putting his livelihood at risk,’ defence solicitor Colette McCarthy told Judge James McNulty.
Court presenter Sgt Tom Mulcahy said James McGuire of Shepperton, Castlehaven, Skibbereen, had a previous conviction which meant he was off the road for 12 months.
But Ms McCarthy said that his client had kept that conviction a secret from his family and decided to ‘weather it’ by relying on the people working for him in his scaffolding business to give him lifts.
The solicitor said he was desperate for a part on July 9th last and took a chance by driving to the motor store in town.
It was Gda Timothy McCarthy who observed the accused make as if to leave the service station at Market Street, only to turn back after seeing the garda car.
‘When he drove while disqualified, he was disobeying a court order,’ Judge James McNulty observed.
Mr McCarthy said her client was ‘under pressure and took a chance’. Since this incident, she said her client has told his family and is willing to face the consequences of his actions.
Judge McNulty described the accused’s behaviour, especially driving without insurance, as ‘an affront to the citizens of Ireland’.
He fined James McGuire €1,000 for driving without insurance. The judge also imposed a 30-day suspended sentence on the accused for driving while disqualified.
The conviction is to be endorsed on his licence, and he was disqualified from driving for two years.
Judge McNulty also ordered the accused to make a €1,000 contribution to the court charity fund.
