Judge Mary Devins dismissed two cases against motorists in Castlebar who had been detected speeding by the new speed camera vans.
The two defendants told the court that, as they never got a fixed penalty notice in the post to say they had been detected speeding and therefore did not pay the fine imposed, they were summoned to appear in court. Giving his evidence to the court, Padraic Sammon of Go Safe Ireland which operates the speed camera vans explained that at the end of his shift he submits all the information to his company’s headquarters which then sends it on to the relevant Garda department which is located in Thurles, Co Tipperary, which then sends out the fixed charge penalty notice if applicable.
Judge Devins told the court: “I have no evidence that these fixed charge notices are issued, it’s putting a huge presumption on me that they are.
“This is a huge issue, I’m not in a position to just rubber stamp that they are,” she added. The Gardaí withdrew a third prosecution against another motorist because of the judge’s ruling in the two previous cases.
