Convicted motorists to sue State over notices

Dozens of motorists wrongly convicted following the fixed-charge notice scandal are refusing to co-operate with gardaí trying to appeal their convictions and plan to sue the State.

A Kerry solicitor says some of the motorists he is representing have suffered serious consequences, but there has been no explanation as to how this happened or any disclosure of documents from Garda HQ.

One of his clients, a woman with a family and invalid husband, was sent to Limerick prison as a result, he said. It emerged earlier this year that 14,700 people wrongly received convictions and court-imposed penalties, including the imposition of penalty points, despite never being sent a fixed-charge notice.

Large numbers of cases are now being referred back to the courts, according to Killarney-based solicitor Padraig O’Connell.

“People had paid their fine under the fixed-charge system and they found later, and in their absence, they were convicted in court,” said Mr O’Connell. “In other instances, motorists were summoned to court where they were entitled to deal with the matter by way of fixed penalty, but never received the notice.”

The State and gardaí are appealing the convictions in the circuit court to have the sanctions and convictions set aside but are doing so “without recourse to the convicted person’s legal advisor”, said Mr O’Connell.

Since May, consent forms headed “Prosecution of Fixed Charge Offence” with the summons reference numbers, are being sent out from Garda HQ.

“Consent letters have been sent to solicitors for clients to sign. As far as I am concerned I have sought disclosure of documentation to find the trail of how this occurred,” he said.

Mr O’Connell has sought copy of all fixed notices, all summonses, all convictions and orders as well as “a detailed comprehensive explanation as to the precise occurrence”.

However his requests have been ignored.

“To date, I have received no disclosure of documents,” he said.

None of his clients had signed the forms consenting to gardaí commencing the process of appealing the court conviction, he added.

“And I have told the Garda Headquarters in the Phoenix Park that I am suing the State, pursuing a claim for damages, in the appropriate cases to include exemplary damages,” he said.

The solicitor, who has one of the busiest practices in Kerry, said he had briefed counsel to draft appropriate proceedings and the matter is being pursued in the circuit court in Tralee on behalf of “dozens” of his clients. Some of the convictions he was dealing with went back nine years.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was stinging in his criticism of the gardaí following the publication of two garda reports into the falsification of breath tests and 14,700 wrongful convictions.

He said the details of the fabrication of breath tests were entirely unacceptable, he said the report “talks about there being disciplinary action and I think that would be appropriate and that is of course a matter for the garda commissioner”.

He added: “I have heard people trying to blame things like resources and training. You would never see a school principal — and there are often resource constraints in schools — you would never see a school principal falsify their own numbers, you would never see a surgeon in the health service claim they have treated more patients.”