Judge David Anderson, sitting in Ballina District Court this week, dismissed a case that had been brought against Sarah Brudenall, 13 Morrison Terrace, Ballina, for not paying a fine for parking in the disabled bay in a car park in Ballina.
Garda Martin McNicholas told the court that he was on foot patrol duty in Diamond’s car park in Ballina on March 7 2009 at around 4pm when he saw a car parked in the disabled bay. He went over and explained to the driver that it was a disabled bay and asked if she had a disabled sticker, which she did not. He then issued her a fixed penalty notice.
John Gordon, solicitor for Brudenall, asked Garda McNicholas if he had smelled vomit or noticed there was a baby in the back seat of the car at the time. Garda McNicholas told the court that he did see the baby in the back of the car and but he did not smell any vomit. Mr Gordon also put it to Garda McNicholas that he did not listen to his client try to explain that she only pulled into the bay because it was an emergency as her baby was sick and it was the only place she could pull in. He said she was moving out of the space again when Garda McNicholas came over to her. Garda McNicholas said he could not agree with that statement.
Giving her evidence to the court Brudenall told the court that she was a 27-year-old who had been living in Ballina for five years and was the mother of three children. She had been at the doctor just before that incident with her baby who had a chest infection and was in the car park because she needed to go to the chemist to pick up a prescription. As she was trying to find a space in the car park, she noticed that her baby was going red in the face and looked to be choking. So she pulled her car straight into the only place she could find, she got out and tended to her baby who vomited when she picked the child up. She went on to say that she had only got the baby and the vomit cleaned up and was reversing out of the disabled spot when Garda McNicholas came over to her. Brudenall claimed Garda McNicholas would not listen to her when she tried to explain the situation and just walked away as she tried to tell him what had happened.
Judge David Anderson dismissed the case, saying that he believed it was an emergency situation that caused Ms Brudenall to park where she did.
