Man who pretended to be a diplomat from non-existent country convicted of motoring offences

Car parked at Cork supermarket with discs claiming to give driver diplomatic immunity from having tax and insurance had coat of arms of 'Moreno', court heard

Mallow District Court heard on October 6, 2022, a black Toyota Auris car that was parked in the carpark of the Lidl supermarket in Kanturk, Co Cork, drew the attention of gardaí because it appeared to have non-conforming registration plates. Picture: Larry Cummins

A man who pretended to be a diplomat from a non-existent country has been convicted of a variety of motoring offences.

Sergeant Majella O’Sullivan told Mallow District Court that on October 6, 2022, a black Toyota Auris car that was parked in the carpark of the Lidl supermarket in Kanturk, Co Cork, drew the attention of gardaí because it appeared to have non-conforming registration plates. The front and back number plates on the car bore the registration LIB3RTY, resembling the word liberty.

The car did have an out-of-date NCT disc displayed relating to a 08C registration, but there were no valid tax and insurance discs displayed. Instead, a disc purporting to give the driver diplomatic immunity from motor tax was displayed, bearing a coat of arms with the word “Moreno” written underneath.

The car also had another disc in the window purporting to cover the vehicle under a “travellers insurance bond” of £4m. The owner of the vehicle, identified as Rodolfo de Jesus Moreno, aged 36, also produced a driver’s identification purporting to be issued by a country called “Moreno”. The car was towed away from the carpark and impounded.

Mr Moreno, who is currently in custody in Cork Prison, appeared in court via video link without legal representation. He refused to answer any questions put to him by Judge Colm Roberts, who told Mr Moreno he would have to take his refusal to communicate as an indication he was unwilling to pay a fine. 

The court heard Mr Moreno had three previous insurance convictions but was not disqualified from driving at the time of the incident. The court was told he had been disqualified since then.

For obstruction, Judge Roberts sentenced Mr Moreno to one month in prison. For no insurance, he was disqualified from driving for four years and given a one-month prison sentence. For driving without a valid license and displaying non-conforming registration plates. he was fined a total of €400 and because he had not indicated he would pay the fine, he was sentenced to a total of 15 days in default.

Recognisance in the event of an appeal was fixed in his own bond of €500, with €250 required in cash.