A man who admitted to knowingly driving his van without insurance avoided a disqualification in the District Court this week (October 27 ) after the judge accepted he needed it for work.
The court heard from Garda Paul Hogan how he had stopped Brian Hynes (33 ), of Clonbonniffe, Belmont, Co Offaly on the Main Street in Ferbane on June 30 and that his insurance disc had expired two weeks previously.
Hynes’s solicitor, Ms Gráinne O’Neill, explained how her client, a carpenter, had been going through some straitened times at work and “was unable to pay for the insurance” as well as keeping his van on the road.
“He knew he wasn’t insured and took a chance. His work depends on his licence,” said Ms O’Neill.
After hearing this was Hynes’s first conviction for this offence, Judge Aeneas McCarthy chose not to disqualify him, but fined Hynes €300, giving him just one month to pay. Four other charges were taken into consideration.
