A young man who pleaded guilty to a string of road traffic offences was recently handed a disqualification from driving.
Patrick Ward (22) of 17 The Lawn, Clover Meadows, Ferrybank, Co.Kilkenny, appeared before Judge Kevin Staunton at a sitting of Waterford District Court recently, charged with a number of road traffic offences, including driving without valid insurance, contrary to Section 56 of the Road Traffic Act, 1961, relating to an incident where he was stopped by Gardaí on the 5 June, 2025.
The court was told that on that day, Gardaí were on patrol near the Dock Road, Ferrybank, when they stopped the accused while driving. It was subsequently discovered that he was driving without a valid licence, insurance, tax or NCT, and he failed to produce these documents to Gardaí within 10 days.
The accused was represented by a solicitor from Dublin, as it was stated that he is now living there and working night-shifts. The solicitor highlighted that although his client has previous convictions for similar offending, he was pleading guilty to all of these matters, and asked Judge Staunton to consider imposing a non-custodial sentence in light of this.
After stating “I will do what I can to help him turn a corner”, Judge Staunton decided to convict and disqualify the accused from driving for four years for the driving without insurance charge. The matter of driving without a valid NCT was taken into consideration, and all other charges were struck out.
Funded by the Court Reporting Scheme
Robyn Power
