Loophole saw disqualified driver granted new licence

A man has been banned from driving for 20 years after he drove dangerously from Cork to Clonakilty in the early morning, crashing into a Garda car, repeatedly failing to stop for police, and only finally coming to a halt when gardaí employed a stinger which burst the tyres on his vehicle.

The case also highlighted a legal loophole after it emerged that, despite being disqualified from driving following the incident, the man was able to reapply for a new licence within eight weeks having been granted a certificate of fitness to drive from a GP.

Clonakilty District Court heard that neither the court which had overseen the initial driving ban handed down in October last year nor the gardaí, who sought it, had been informed by the National Driver Licence Service (NDLS) it was granting the man a new one-year licence.