Judge ‘sick’ at ‘rotten’ penalty points

A judge has said he has felt “mentally sick” over the “rotten” fixed charge penalty point system gardaí have in place to prosecute speeding motorists.

Judge Patrick Durcan made his comment at Ennis District Court after ordering that the top garda overseeing the force’s contentious fixed charge penalty system (FCPN) for motoring offences come before him to answer why the system is “rotten”.

“Four months ago, after a court here where there was a number of these cases, I was barely able to drive home, I was so mentally sick at the way the whole thing isn’t working,” the judge said. “There is something rotten in the whole system.”