A KINSALE woman was shocked when told by gardaí that the car she was driving did not have insurance when they stopped her in Belgooly last year.
Catherine McCarthy of 3 Ringroan Hights, Kinsale pleaded guilty at Bandon District Court to driving without
insurance.
Gda Will O’Donoghue told the court that at 10.15am on September 13th last while in Belgooly he received an ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) alert that the car the defendant was driving had no insurance.
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‘She had left her insurance policy lapse and it had expired on May 5th and her car was then seized,’ said Gda O’Donoghue.
‘She was co-operative and it was quite obvious that it was an honest mistake and she was quite upset about it.’
Defence solicitor Plunkett Taaffe said his client was ‘shocked’ when told that she had no insurance on the car.
‘The insurance policy on the car she was driving had lapsed but she was unaware it had happened. She normally drives her own car but took her husband’s car instead that day,’ said Mr Taaffe.
‘Her husband had left the insurance on his car lapse as he was working from home. It was her husband’s car and they got it back after it was seized.’
Judge Joanne Carroll said that these things happen and convicted and fined her €100, giving her four months to pay the fine.
‘Don’t let it stress you out. You wrongly assumed that the car was insured,’ said Judge Carroll.
