Man pretended that his car had been stolen
DEFENDANT PANICKED AFTER ACCIDENT
Wednesday March 10 2010
A WELLINGTONBRIDGE man who pretended his car was stolen rather than confessing to having crashed it was fined €400 at last week's sitting of Wexford District Court.
John O'Brien, of Kilcavan, Wellingtonbridge, was charged with making a false statement to the Gardaí on May 24, 2009.
Garda David Ryan said that O'Brien reported his car stolen to New Ross Garda Station a short time after it had been recovered crashed in Wellingtonbridge.
O'Brien also told the Gardaí that his mobile home had been broken into and his keys stolen.
The Gardaí inspected CCTV footage obtained from the filling station in Wellingtonbridge, which showed a male driving the car.
During a subsequent phone conversation with Gardaí that day, O'Brien admitted that he was in fact driving his car and crashed it.
He apologised to the Gardaí and said he panicked after the accident that morning.
The court heard he had three previous convictions: assault in October 2004 at New Ross District Court (two month suspended sentence); assault at the Central Criminal Court in May 2001 (two year sentence, one suspended), and drugs offences dating back to 1994.
Eva Lalor, for O'Brien, pointed out that his admission came the same day as his false report so not to much Garda time was wasted.
She said her client, a single tyre fitter, had made 'a serious error of judgement'.
Judge Earley fined him €400, noting that it was a serious offence, but O'Brien had 'rectified matters soon after'.
