Motorists who lost their licences for speeding have told an appeal court that the judge who put them off the road refused to listen to any excuse.
Circuit Court judge Mary Faherty yesterday removed driving bans imposed by District Court judge John Coughlan.
She heard motorists state on oath that Judge Coughlan would not listen, did not give them a chance to speak at District Court level or sped so fast through their cases that they did not have time to explain anything.
The errant drivers, some of whom admitted to not turning up in the District Court, came before Judge Faherty yesterday with four points on their licence, an €800 fine and six months' disqualification from driving.
Some told the court they had not received the initial fixed penalty notice or the ensuing summons because of a mix up in their address.
In some of these cases Judge Faherty, who gave a careful hearing to all appellants, completely overturned the lower court ruling, points and all.
In the majority of others, where she heard what she considered reasonable excuses for not having properly dealt with the fixed penalties, she drastically reduced fines to about €150 and removed the disqualification.
Judge Faherty said in many of the cases she was unable to reduce the four points penalty due to the circumstances in the cases.
Ian Kiely, Pearse Street, Sallynoggin, Co Dublin, wrongly prosecuted as Ian Killy of Sallynoggin, had an €800 fine, a four-points mark-up on his licence and a six- months disqualification overturned. He said Judge Coughlan had not afforded him an opportunity to explain his situation in the District Court.
Shane Mullins, Kill, Co Kildare, who was caught driving at 103km/h in a 60km/h zone had a six months' disqualification removed. He said he had been caught in an area where a lot of road works had been going on in preparation for the Ryder Cup last year. He had contested the location of the offence in front of the judge. A large number of cases included appeals where drivers were not aware that a legal reduced speed limit existed at road works areas, despite temporary road signs indicating reduced speeds.