A driver who is off the road because of accumulated penalty points had accumulated a lot of them for parking on double yellow lines outside his own house, his solicitor pleaded at Ballinasloe District Court.
“Why does he keep doing it then?” asked Judge James Faughnan when defending solicitor Martina Moran outlined the circumstances of her client’s driving ban and his subsequent arrest for driving while disqualified and uninsured as a consequence of disqualification.
The court heard Garda evidence that John Corcoran, 58A Brackernagh, Ballinasloe, was stopped by Gardaí while driving at Society Street, Ballinasloe on September 22 last. He admitted to the Gardaí that he was disqualified, was arrested and taken to Ballinasloe Garda Station, where he was charged.
Ms Moran explained that her client was 40 and had six children ranging in age from one to 19. On the date in question, one of his daughters was ill and needed medication, and he took a risk in order to pick it up from the pharmacy. There was an anniversary Mass for a member of his family on at the time, and there was no one else available to fetch the medication.
The defence pleaded that although he had accumulated 12 penalty points and as a result was banned from driving, half of these points were for parking on double yellow lines outside his own home.
“Why does he keep doing it then?” the Judge demanded. Ms Moran assured him that her client had now ceased doing so.
The judge imposed fines totalling €1,100 and warned: “If he comes up before me again for such offences, he’ll be getting four years off the road every time.”
