A young driver who was found to be driving without insurance relied on the defence that he firmly believed he was, in fact, insured when his case came before Judge James Faughnan at Tuam District Court.
Sean Acton, solicitor (defending ), said this was a case where his client, Darragh Burke, Coolebeg, Cummer, “one hundred per cent believed he was insured” when stopped by Garda Mick Hehir on April 6 last.
The defendant came to Garda Hehir’s attention when he was seen holding a mobile phone while driving. He had already paid the ticket fine for this offence.
However, when his details were checked by the Garda, it transpired that he was not in fact insured to drive the car.
Mr Acton outlined a somewhat convoluted tale. His client had a minor accident, and his car was off the road. He then went through the process of getting his name on his father’s car, but “Mammy was the policy holder”. His client then had to call the insurance company and give them his details. Somewhere during the process, the details of his own car managed to end up on his mother’s policy, and he ended up not having valid cover.
Garda Hehir said that Burke appeared genuinely shocked when he was informed at the roadside stop that he was not covered.
Judge Faughnan said that he accepted that Burke had genuinely believed he was insured and that was a legitimate defence, and as such he would use his discretion to strike out the charge.
