A man has been sentenced to five months in jail for his third no insurance conviction.
At a recent sitting of Mullingar District Court, Judge Gerard Haughton said he was “completely satisfied” that Seyi Sotona of 21 The Park, Lakepoint in Mullingar was lying to the court when he said he believed he was insured.
The judge said that if that was the case, there was no need for him to evade gardaí and give a false address as described in evidence by Garda James Cullinan.
Garda Cullinan said he was driving a car fitted with the Automatic Number Plate Recognition system which identified the car the 31-year-old Nigerian was driving as uninsured. Sotona initially denied driving the car but eventually admitted he was the driver but gave a false name and address in Tullamore.
The court heard he was convicted in 2004 and 2005 for having no insurance.
Mr Donal Farrelly said his client’s insurance had been cancelled by Quinn Direct when he missed a direct debit payment.
He had briefly separated from his wife who disposed of his letters while he was away, Sotona said. That was why he didn’t know he was no longer covered.
The father of three has worked in the past as a security officer but is now unemployed and at home full time.
He asked the judge to be lenient with him because he thought he was insured at the time.
However Judge Haughton said “This cannot be true”.
If Sotona was insured he had no reason to get away, park up, and give an incorrect name and address.
When Sotona interrupted him, the judge reminded him that, “You’ve just had your say. I believe you are lying”.
He sentenced Sotona to five months in jail and disqualified him for six years.
