'A mockery of the system': driver caught by gardai while under seven active bans gets six-month jail term
A 38-year-old man who was caught on the M50 while under seven active driving bans has been handed a six-month jail term, after a judge found he was “making a mockery of the system”.
Stephen O’Brien, of Avondale Heights, Rathdrum, pleaded guilty at Dún Laoghaire District Court to driving without insurance and driving without a driving licence on the M50 Carrickmines on 18 November last.
Garda Shane Hogan told the court that O’Brien has 33 previous convictions, 31 of which relate to road traffic matters. Nine of those convictions are for driving without insurance and seven are for driving without a driving licence.
The court heard O’Brien has been disqualified from driving nine times, with seven of those disqualifications in place.
Defence solicitor, Patricia Camilon, told the court that O’Brien works as a tree surgeon and had been paying another man to drive him to and from work.
She said the driver was known by O’Brien to be unreliable and had failed to turn up on the day in question.
Counsel said O’Brien accepted he should not have taken the risk and should not have driven, and that he has since sold his car.
The court heard O’Brien has two children, with a third due shortly.
Judge Conor Fottrell described O’Brien as a serial road traffic offender. “These are serious offences. You keep coming back to the courts”, the judge said.
“You have a business and you are driving with no insurance. The whole thing beggars belief. You are making a mockery of the system, to be frank with you”, Judge Fottrell told him.
Judge Fottrell said he had no alternative but to impose a custodial sentence and sentenced O’Brien to six months’ imprisonment for the no-insurance offence, with the no-licence offence taken into consideration.
A further four-year driving disqualification was imposed, to run back-to-back with existing orders, meaning O’Brien will be disqualified from driving until January 2030.
The court set recognisance in the sum of €500 in the event of an appeal.
Funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme
