An apprentice mechanic who was caught driving a dangerously defective vehicle which was uninsured was put off the road for six years when he came before Judge Fiona Lydon at Clifden District Court.
Judge Lydon noted that a Probation report stated that Mr Ind of 62 Clifden Glen, Clifden “just loved driving”. She told the defendant that he’d be surprised how time flies but warned him that if he came before her on another no-insurance charge he would face very serious consequences.
The defence explained that Ind was an apprentice mechanic, and although he was already disqualified from driving his employer was aware of this and continued to employ him. His client was soon to be a father and was trying to put all his run-ins with the Guards behind him and he apologises for his offences.
Judge Lydon noted that the defendant was already on Probation and now he was before her pleading guilty on new charges.
She was told that he had 21 previous convictions which Garda Sgt Damien Prendergast said “were all of a similar vein” relating to road traffic offences.
The Court heard that on January 22 last the defendant was stopped by Gardaí who inspected his vehicle and seized it over concerns about its roadworthiness. A subsequent inspection deemed the vehicle dangerously defective.
The defence pleaded that his client went through a period of very poor decision-making but there was a positive Probation report before the Court and his upcoming fatherhood may have a stabilising influence on him.
Judge Lydon noted that he had already been banned from driving for fours years for his last no-insurance offence so on this new charge she was going to impose a four-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, provided he did not drive a vehicle. She also imposed a six-year driving disqualification and the rest of the charges against him were taken into account.
