Man with no insurance ‘going through a particularly bad period’ fined €500

A MAN caught driving without insurance, while serving a disqualification from driving for the same offence, received a fine and a suspended sentence at Tallaght District Court.

Stephen J Casey (42), of Brookview Drive, Tallaght, appeared before court charged with driving a vehicle without insurance on January 26, 2022, at Crumlin Road, Dublin 12.

Sergeant Mike Formsby told the court that gardai stopped the defendant in a vehicle on Crumlin Road.

The defendant had no insurance and was already serving a seven-year disqualification from a conviction in 2022, for an offence of driving without insurance in 2021.

Mr Casey has 26 previous convictions, including four for no insurance.

Defence solicitor Michael Hennessy said his client was going through a particularly “bad period” at the time of the incident and ended up in Cluain Mhuire, an adult mental health service.

“He accepts it was a chaotic time for him and his family,” said Mr Hennessy.

Judge Patricia McNamara took into account the guilty plea, and that the defendant has committed no offence since receiving a seven-year disqualification in 2022 for driving without insurance.

Mr Casey was fined €500 and received a five-month prison sentence suspended for two years on his own bond of €200 with conditions not to be in control of any vehicles during that time.

Funded by the Local Courts Scheme