A judge voiced an opinion on insurance companies in the District Court last week in a drink driving case when he referred to the defendant moving from Quinn to Axa as going “from the frying pan to the fire”.
In court was Colm Maypother (23 ), Mourne Drive, Skerries, Co Dublin to face charges of drink driving and driving without insurance after he was stopped in Kilmacoo on February 26 and returned a reading in the garda station of 70/100.
However, his solicitor looked for a brief adjournment to clarify Maypother’s insurance position.
“He has some difficulty over insurance. He believes his company let him down. He was with Quinn and changed to Axa and there is some vacuum in relation to this,” said Ms Michele Mellotte.
“That’s definitely a case of frying pan to the fire, Ms Mellotte,” mused Judge David Anderson.
Inspector Aidan Minnock told the court how the defendant had four previous convictions, including one for having no insurance in 2007, which is what prompted Ms Mellotte to clarify her client’s position.
She returned sometime later to the court room and told the judge: “We’ve drawn a blank on the insurance, judge, and will be pleading guilty to all matters. It seems his payment arrived late and they wouldn’t cover him”.
In mitigation, she told Judge Anderson her client was the father to three daughters and had been recently let go, but was hopeful of a job shortly at Terminal 2 in Dublin Airport.
“He met it [the charges] fairly and squarely,” said Ms Mellotte.
The judge accepted this, fined Maypother €250, disqualified him from driving for three years on the drink driving charge, and took the no insurance charge into consideration.
