A Nigerian woman who appealed a District Court order to pay fines totalling €1,750 in respect of two charges of driving without insurance has been told by a Circuit Criminal Court judge that she should be "put in jail" to stop all other Nigerians committing similar offences.
At Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court in Westport yesterday, Mr Kevin Bourke, solicitor, told Judge Harvey Kenny that the defendant, Mrs Bukky Abebanjo, of Knockaphunta, Castlebar, had not been present or represented at either of the court hearings.
She had been disqualified from driving for three years, but he believed that the fines would not have been so high if she had been in court. He pleaded that her means were not sufficient to meet the fines. She was married with three children and was distressed that her driving offences might interfere with her right to residency in the State.
After questioning the defendant about the circumstances which brought her to Ireland, the judge commented: "I don't think any Nigerian is obeying the law of the land when it comes to driving. I had a few of them in Galway yesterday and they are all driving around without insurance and the way to stop this is to put you in jail. Word would go out then in the Nigerian community that if you must drive, you must have insurance. I don't see anything wrong with the District Court order in this case. You are lucky you are not going to jail."
Judge Kenny affirmed the order of the District Court.