A LIMERICK man who refused to tell Gardaí who was driving his car when it fled from a checkpoint was protecting a relative, a judge was told.
James O’Brien (59), of 9 Roches Road, Rathkeale, County Limerick, admitted to Gardaí that he owned the car but said he was not driving on the occasion, and would not identify the person who was.
He pleaded guilty before the District Court in Newcastle West to a charge of refusing to give information to Gardaí.
The court heard Gardaí signalled the car to stop when they saw it in Rathkeale, but it failed to do so and was later found abandoned.
Mr O’Brien’s solicitor said he admitted owning the car but would not tell Gardaí who was driving it at that time. In doing so, he was protecting a relative, the solicitor said.
His client had otherwise co-operated with Gardaí who were “reliant on certain information” he did give them, the solicitor said, and considering the fact that the car, while effectively owned by Mr O’Brien, was registered in his wife’s name.
Inspector Dermot O’Donovan said that Mr O’Brien had previous convictions for motoring offences, dated back to 2013, but had none in this jurisdiction after that.
The solicitor asked the court not to disqualify Mr O’Brien from driving as “he works as a line painter around this island and is the sole bread winner for his family”.
Judge Adrian Harris adjourned sentencing until September 12 for the benefit of a probation report.
