60 speeding cases halted to check for photos

Sixty motorists accused of speeding in north Cork may be in line for a reprieve due to a recent High Court decision that they should be served with a photograph of their car at the incident.

Mallow District Court Judge Brian Sheridan yesterday adjourned 60 speeding fine cases until December 16 to give gardaí time to see if the motorist in each case was served with the photo taken when the alleged offences took place, as per a decision made by Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns in the High Court on July 11.

Explaining Mr Justice Kearns’ decision to the defendants in the court, Judge Sheridan conceded that, in many cases, there is a likelihood the court will not proceed with the prosecutions.

The majority of the speeding cases before Judge Sheridan arose from detection by Go Safe vans.

On top of the 60 adjournments yesterday, eight speeding cases before Mallow District Court were struck out, owing to the High Court decision in the case of Michael Gilvarry, from Killala, Co Mayo.

Mr Gilvarry, who was summonsed for allegedly doing 93km/h in an 80km/h zone in Ballina on Oct 30, 2011, successfully argued before the High Court, that the law required that there had to be evidence before the court that he had been served with a photograph to show it was his car involved in the alleged offence prior to his trial, before he could be convicted.