A Bonniconlon man who was caught in what Judge David Anderson described as a “honey trap” avoided a driving ban when he was convicted of driving without insurance, driving with a bald tyre, and driving a car without an NCT certificate at Ballina District Court this week.
Jonathan Lavelle, Carrow Crum, Bonniconlon, was in court on foot of being stopped driving a car on February 20 2009 by Garda John Barrett at Quignalecka, Ballina, at 3.15am. Garda Barrett told the court that he was operating a checkpoint and noticed that the car had no NCT and had a bald front tyre. Garda Barrett said that he asked the driver of the car, Lavelle, if it was his, to which he was told it was and Lavelle had just bought it. Lavelle did produce an insurance cert within 10 days, Garda Barrett confirmed, but it did not cover him for driving that car on the date in question. Garda Barrett also told the court that the car was seized because he felt it was defective and that he knew that one of the passengers in the car on the night — Emma Hardy — had previously driven the car.
Continuing his evidence Garda Barrett said it turned out that Jonathan Lavelle had lied to him and had not owned the car on the night in question.
Giving his evidence to the court Lavelle said that he was at work that evening and got a text message from Emma Hardy to ask if he would drive her and some friends to Sligo for a night out during rag week. He agreed to do so, he had insurance on his own car at the time but it was away getting sprayed that week. He thought that Hardy had insurance on her car because he said she told him that she had and that they spoke about it in the car that evening.
Ms Hardy was in court on foot of a witness summons, which she had tried to avoid the court was told. In her evidence she said that she didd not have a conversation that evening with Lavelle about her having open insurance and that she thought that he had his own insurance to cover him to drive the car.
Judge David Anderson told the court: “I’m going to convict you on the use of a car without an NCT, the bald tyre, and the no insurance, but I’m not going to disqualify you. I don’t quite know what was going on that night, I think it has been described in literature as a honey trap.”
Lavelle was convicted and fined €75 for the bald tyre, €250 for having no NCT, and €200 for driving without insurance.
