Pensioners’ handout does not conceal the political bungling

ONE often hears the saying that “the law is an ass”. After this week, who could argue with that? On the one hand, we had the dangerous driving case against MEP Avril Doyle thrown out because of the delay in bringing it to court.

She had an accident in March, 2002, and a summons was issued that September. She was to appear in court on February 21, 2003, but her legal representative stated that she did not receive the summons, so the case was struck out.

A second summons was served on her in January 2004 to appear in court in April, but again she did not appear and a bench warrant was issued for her arrest. She was in Strasbourg at the European parliament and her solicitors accepted full responsibility for the mix-up in not informing the court. A further date was set for this week, when the case was thrown out.