Judge strikes out car insurance case against Bantry apprentice

The young West Cork man drove his girlfriend’s uncle’s UK-registered pick-up a short distance to a transporter without insurance

The judge said she did not believe the defendant had deliberately driven without insurance and that he may have believed he was covered under his own policy. Stock photo.

A Bantry apprentice carpenter who drove his girlfriend’s uncle’s UK-registered pick-up a short distance to a transporter has had an insurance case against him struck out.

Jack Sheedy, aged 21, of Gortacloone, Bantry, pleaded guilty at Bantry District Court to driving without insurance. 

The court heard a blue Toyota Hilux, registered in the UK, was seen on the N71 near Bantry on April 24, 2026. 

Sheedy was driving and the vehicle was not insured.

Defence solicitor Flor Murphy said Sheedy was in the fourth year of his carpentry apprenticeship, had no previous convictions and was fully insured on his own car. 

The Hilux belonged to his girlfriend’s uncle, who had won it in a competition based in Northern Ireland. 

The uncle had since moved to Australia.

Mr Murphy said Sheedy had been asked to drive the vehicle a couple of miles to a low-loader so it could be taken to Northern Ireland to have its vehicle registration tax (VRT) position sorted out.

Sheedy admitted he had no insurance when stopped. 

Mr Murphy said he was “effectively doing a turn” for his girlfriend’s uncle and that it was a once-off mistake and an error of judgment.

Judge Joanne Carroll said Sheedy may have been trying to impress his girlfriend’s uncle. 

She said she did not believe he had deliberately driven without insurance and that he may have believed he was covered under his own policy. Judge Carroll struck out the matter.

Funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme