Irish international rugby player Gordon D’Arcy has had a speeding summons dismissed after a judge said she could not be satisfied he actually received the initial fine.
Tullamore District Court heard the fine was first sent to Honda, who sponsored the car D'Arcy was driving when a speed van clocked him travelling at 106km/h in an 80km/h zone at Shanderry, Portarlington on April 27th this year.
D’Arcy admitted at Tullamore District Court that he was the nominated driver at the time but said the fine hadn’t been sent on to him.
Judge Catherine Staines said the only way the court can be satisfied that drivers do get fines is if they are sent by registered post.
She also said the address on the nomination form Honda sent back to the fines office in Thurles was unclear.
Inspector Kieran Keyes told the judge he would rely on a provision in the Road Traffic Act which allows prosecutors to presume that drivers receive speeding fines.
But Judge Staines said there are huge problems with the fixed charge penalty system for speeding and it leaves the court in a dilemma.
If someone does not pay the fine and is summonsed to court and convicted, they get mandatory double penalty points, she said, even if they genuinely didn’t get the fine in the first place.
She said people would prefer to get the fine and pay it rather than get double points.
The only way the court can deal fairly with both sides is if fines are sent by registered post, she said, adding that she believed D’Arcy’s evidence that he gets all his other post at the home he shares with his wife.
She said D’Arcy, who has no previous convictions, would not miss a day’s training to come to court to answer the summons if he had an option.
She believed he would have paid the fine if he’d received it.
The 33-year-old was in training with the Ireland squad in Carton House last week when his solicitor Donal Farrelly offered a charitable donation to the court for the speeding offence.
However, Judge Denis McLoughlin wouldn’t deal with the case in D’Arcy’s absence and adjourned the case to this week.
Mr Farrelly said the Ireland and Leinster centre, who earned his 75th cap in the nail-biting contest against the All Blacks this week, wanted to be in court even though he had a letter from Leinster rugby saying he could not be present.