The public should not have to be exposed to loud noises coming from souped-up vehicles zooming up and down the town, said Judge Mary Fahy last week, who warned that a get-tough approach will be used against their owners.
Judge Fahy made the comments at Galway District Court last Wednesday after hearing the cases of several defendants who were summoned to court for road traffic offences such as having no silencer affixed to the exhaust of their modified vehicles.
One of the first cases to be heard was that of Emilie Keogh (24 ) with an address at 37 Cloch Ard, Rahoon, who had been summoned for driving without insurance, failing to produce insurance, failing to produce a driving licence, and for having no silencer on October 13, 2008, at Rosemary Avenue, Eyre Square, Galway.
The court heard that the defendant had bought the vehicle out of necessity not long before she had been stopped and was still waiting to have the silencer welded on. Defence solicitor Valerie Corcoran said that this would be done as soon as possible and that her client now had insurance.
Judge Fahy expressed shock that Keogh would even consider transporting her four-year-old child in such a vehicle, adding that there was a “suspicion” that she had bought it deliberately.
“It’s not just the boys who are doing this, there are girls doing this as well. You just want to join the rest of them zooming up and down the town,” said Judge Fahy. She then warned that as long as people insist on buying these types of cars she was going to disqualify them. However Keogh was given time to rectify the matter and the case was adjourned until January 26, 2009.
Fitness instructor Shane Ruane (21 ) was not so lucky as it was revealed that gardai had given him chances in the past to fit a silencer and conforming front and back number plates on his vehicle, however he failed to do this and had tried to deceive the court.
Ruane, with an address at Moyvilla, Oranmore, had been stopped on September 16, 2008 at Bohermore and summoned to appear in court. He told Judge Fahy last week that he had rectified the matter but when gardai later inspected the vehicle they found that the silencer and the proper number plates had been placed in the boot of the car ready to be re-fitted when needed.
For having no silencer Ruane was fined €200 and disqualified for 12 months, and for the non-conforming front and back number plates he was fined €200 each. The judge then added that she would expect Ruane’s car to be seized if stopped again.
Finally, Alan Davis with an address at Castlegar East, Ahascragh, Ballinasloe, failed to appear in court after being summoned for failing to produce an NCT certificate, for not having a test cert in force, and for having no silencer fitted on the exhaust on September 22, 2008, at Eyre Square. Judge Fahy fined Davis €300 for having no silencer and disqualified him for 12 months. He was also fined €300 for having no NCT cert and €200 for failing to produce it.
