Vendetta accusation made against Laois garda
Image for illustration purposes
A MAN accused a garda of having a vendetta against him but declined to explain what the issue was at Portlaoise District Court when he contested a summons for the non-payment of a speeding fine.
At a previous hearing of the case, Garda Stephen O’Hanlon said that while on traffic duty at 9.30am on the M7 at Ballydavis, Portlaoise on 20 March last year, he detected a black Audi car travelling at a speed of 153km in a 120km/ph zone.
He said that while speaking with the driver, Mark Heffernan, 242 Swallow Drive, John Carew Park, Limerick, he denied driving at that speed, despite Garda O’Hanlon showing him the detected speed on a TruCAM laser device.
He said a fixed charge penalty notice was issued to the defendant that went unpaid. He said a summons was issued by registered post for the non-payment of the fine but was returned and a summons was issued to him directly by a garda in Limerick.
At that hearing, the court was told that Mr Heffernan was the chairman of a local football club and the proprietor of a local shop.
The court heard that the summons was served on Mr Heffernan at the football club’s grounds and that the fixed charge penalty notice was never delivered to him and he was not given an option to pay it.
Garda O’Hanlon said that the defendant had three previous road traffic convictions, the most recent in 2014. Mr Heffernan denied that he had any previous convictions.
Mr Heffernan said the first inkling about the matter was when a summons was served directly on him by a local garda and that “I didn’t receive any documents before that. If I had of got the penalty notice, I would have went online and paid it instead of spending time in court and the expense of a solicitor.” Judge Andrew Cody had adjourned the case for the garda who issued the summons to be in court and for clarification on whether Mr Heffernan had prior convictions.
When the case resumed, Garda DJ Hayes, the summons server from Roxboro Road Garda Station in Limerick, said he had served the summons personally on Mr Heffernan, who, he said, is known to him.
He said he served the summons on Mr Heffernan on 5 September 2025 at John Carew Park FC in Southill and explained to him the process from the issuing of fixed charged penalty notices, to summons, to the payment options or going to court.
Defending barrister Anne Doyle said that Mr Heffernan said that it wasn’t explained to him and that Garda Hayes response was to deal with it in court.
Garda Hayes rejected that assertion.
Ms Doyle said: “My client will say that there appears to be a vendetta against him.” Garda Hayes said: “That comes as a surprise to me. I’d spoken to him numerous times over the years, but I haven’t met him, maybe twice over the last three or four years. I am very surprised to hear him say that.” Ms Doyle again said that her client would say that there is a vendetta against him.
Judge Andrew Cody wanted to know: “What is this vendetta allegedly about?” Ms Doyle said: “My client instructs me that they have past history together.” Garda Hayes asked the nature of the history that Mr Heffernan was claiming?
“My client,” said Ms Doyle, “would say that there’s an ongoing dispute between the two, but he won’t elaborate on it.” Judge Cody said previous sworn evidence given by Mr Heffernan said he knew Garda Hayes as a local garda and had known him as a community garda.
Ms Doyle asked Garda Hayes how he knew that Mr Heffernan would be at the football club that day, to which he replied: “I was given confidential information by a source, who I don’t wish to reveal as to where he may be. It’s part of my job to find people to serve summons and warrants on.” Judge Cody wanted to know had Garda Hayes made any attempt to serve the summons on the defendant at his home address.
“I did,” said the garda. “There was a lock on the gate. I couldn’t access the house. There was no letterbox outside the house either. I called to the house two or three times with the summons.” Judge Cody then asked Garda O’Hanlon whether he had found any evidence that Mr Heffernan had previous convictions.
Garda O’Hanlon said that he had found evidence of three road traffic offences.
Ms Doyle said that her client has no knowledge of one of the convictions and in relation to the other two will engage the service of a solicitor, as they relate to his father’s address.
She said notwithstanding the alleged convictions for minor offences, they would all be considered spent under the Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions and Certain Disclosures) Act 2016, having allegedly been committed over seven years ago.
Judge Cody said: “This man first came to court saying that he never got a fixed charge penalty notice. When that was investigated, it turned out it was attempted to be served by registered post. He claimed he didn’t get the fixed charge penalty notice. It turns out there’s no letterbox, so how would he know if he did or he didn’t. The gate is locked. Clearly, he doesn’t like getting too much post. Then several attempts were made to serve the summons and they were returned to sender.” Judge Cody said that at a previous hearing on the issue, Mr Heffernan had given sworn evidence and said that he knew the local guards and that they’d know him and to be at the football club’s grounds.
“Now it’s dressed up to be some sort of vendetta that Garda Hayes has against him, which he refused to elaborate on,” said Judge Cody.
“I think that is scurrilous, quite frankly, to make an allegation against a garda in court and then not to stand over it. He instructed a solicitor he had no previous convictions, but it turned out that he had three. I’m quite certain that Garda Hayes gave the fixed charge penalty notice as well as the summons and, frankly, I don’t believe a word that Mr Heffernan says.” He went on to convict Mr Heffernan of the offence, fined him €1,000 and disqualified him from driving for six months.
Judge Cody fixed an own bond recognisance of €800 with a cash lodgement of €400 in the event that Mr Heffernan wished to appeal his decision, which he took up before the court adjourned for the day.
