A Bekan man who gave a false name after he was detected driving using illegal diesel was fined a total of €5,000 in Ballyhaunis District Court this week.
Mr Vincent Deane, State Solicitor for Mayo, told the court that on February 16 2009, Noel Slattery of Cloongowna, Bekan, met a multi agency checkpoint of customs officers and gardai at Hazel Hills, Ballyhaunis.
As Slattery approached the checkpoint he pulled into a filling station. Officers proceeded to follow Slattery and asked him to give a fuel sample which returned positive for illegal diesel.
When they asked his name he gave the name of his brother-in-law which was later discovered by gardai following an investigation after the positive results of the test. Solicitor for Slattery, Mr Evan O’Dwyer, told the court that in the grand scheme of things his client’s deception was quite minor and he had fully confessed at the first court date, he went on to say that his client had even assisted the customs officers in taking the sample from the vehicle he was driving on the date in question.
Judge Mary Devins convicted and fined Slattery €5,000 for each offence, but brought each fine down to €2,500 under mitigation.
