DISQUALIFICATION DETERRENT NECESSARY TO ADDRESS SPATE OF UNINSURED DRIVING SAYS JUDGE

The deterrent of a driving disqualification was a necessary one in order to address the numbers of motorists on Irish roads who were currently uninsured, Judge Denis McLoughlin commented at Monaghan District Court this week. The Judge made his remarks when refusing a solicitor’s application not to impose a driving ban on a woman who was detected using an uninsured vehicle at Liseggerton,

Clones on October 15 last year. Garda Diarmuid Leane, Monaghan tendered evidence of stopping Gerde Titliene from 5 Teehill, Clones driving at 8.56 am on the occasion. Garda Leane said the defendant told him that she knew the vehicle she was using was not insured. Mr Kevin Hickey, solicitor, told the court that his client had purchased a new vehicle but discovered that it needed serious repair work and this had left her in a position where she could not afford insurance. She now had another vehicle which was insured.

Mr Hickey said Ms Titliene had been residing in Ireland for 13 years and had three children, one of whom was autistic. Her father used to take her shopping but on this occasion he was taken to hospital with heart failure and she had taken the car which needed repairs in order…