Judge criticises an ‘epic waste' of court time

A DISTRICT court judge has said there has been an ‘epic’ waste of both the courts’ and garda time regarding the speeding fines system.

Judge McNulty made the comments at a recent sitting of Bandon Court when he dismissed several cases against motorists who told him they never received their ‘fixed charge notice’ in the post. 

Several motorists swore on oath that they did not receive the fixed charge notice, despite their addresses being listed correctly. ‘I’m intending to list all of these cases for April 1st and get the Dept of Justice and the Dept of Transport to come to court here and it will be one long day of citizens saying they’re not getting the fines posted out to them,’ said Judge McNulty.

Insp Ger Lacey pointed out that the number of fines that come to court are small in proportion to the number of fines issued overall, but he admitted the issues relating to people not receiving the fixed charge notices ‘has been flagged’.

Judge McNulty said it was a ‘monstrous waste of court and garda time’ and it would require a week of special sittings to deal with the problem.