Woman (18) with no driving licence caught speeding on Laois motorway
Image for illustration purposes
AN 18-YEAR-Old woman detected driving above the speed limit on a motorway was stopped by gardaí and found to have no driving licence and four other people in the vehicle, along with a dog in the boot.
Garda O’Hanlon said while on mobile patrol on the motorway at Clonard, Mountrath on 20 November last year, he detected a car passing by travelling at a speed of 158km/h in a 120km/h zone.
Garda O’Hanlon said the air temperature at the time was hovering around freezing point with the possibility of frost.
He said when the car stopped, he saw the father of the defendant in the passenger seat, three other men in the back of the car and a dog in its boot.
He said the defendant Angel Casey, Clonlong Halting Site, Limerick never held a driving licence and there was no insurance cover on the car that she had been driving at the time.
Garda O’Hanlon said that Ms Casey has no previous convictions and said the car was seized.
Solicitor Josephine Fitzpatrick said her client was not in court.
Judge Andrew Cody said: “There were five people in the car and a dog in the boot. If anything had happened, it could have been very serious.” He wanted to know whether any of the other four people in the car held a full driving licence at the time Garda O’Hanlon said: “I’m very sure everyone in that car on that night had no driving licence or had been disqualified from driving. But there was nobody available to drive.” Judge Cody said: “It’s obvious she never held a driving licence. She was driving at 158km/h on a frosty night with a car packed with people and a dog in the boot.” He convicted Ms Casey of driving while uninsured, fined her €500 and disqualified her from driving for five years. He imposed the same driving disqualification and fine when he convicted her for dangerous driving, imposed a €250 fine for driving without a licence and struck out the offence of driving on a motorway without a driving licence.
