A Castlebar woman was banned from driving for six months and convicted and fined €300 by Judge Mary Devins in Castlebar District Court this week for parking her car in the middle of the street. Kathleen McDonagh, 35 Cois Abhainn, Castlebar was not in court but was represented by a solicitor.
Garda Charlie Elliot told the court that on September 15 2008 at 4pm he was on Ellison Street in Castlebar when he saw a car parked in the middle of the road with it’s hazard lights on blocking up a lane of traffic. Garda Elliot told the court that he waited around for five minutes to see if the driver would come back to the car, but she didn’t so a fixed penalty notice was issued which was not paid.
McDonagh’s solicitor apologised to the court for his client’s absence. He said she was unable to attend because she had a son who was boxing in Dublin on the day which required a parent to be present and because she was a single mother she had to be there. But he added that she accepted that she was in the wrong. Judge Devins convicted and fined McDonagh €300 and disqualified her from driving for six months in her absence.
