Uninsured driver jailed after nabbed in four different cars

A 43-years-old father of five shouted abuse at a Judge who had imposed an eight-month sentence on him for continuous driving offences, at Galway District Court.

“You’d want to get the right brother – I didn’t rob your house,” the defendant roared at Judge Mary Fahy, before being surrounded by a large number of Gardaí and led away.

“Eight months for what? I didn’t rob your house.”

Trevor Harlowe, with an address at 74 Corrach Buí, Rahoon, had pleaded guilty to having no insurance on a number of occasions, with not wearing a seat belt, and driving with a mobile phone.

Garda Kieran Quinn told the court that he was on duty in the early hours of November 6 2016 when he stopped the Opel Astra driven by Harlowe, and demanded to see his insurance.

In a separate incident, in January, he was detected driving a different car at a speed of 85km in a 50km zone along the Quincentenary Bridge. He was found to be without a seatbelt, and he had no insurance again on this occasion.

In April, in a third car, he was stopped at a checkpoint and found to have had no insurance again, and the vehicle was seized. On July 23 last, a Garda stopped him driving a fourth vehicle while using a mobile phone.

“He had four different vehicles – seizing them doesn’t seem to be any punishment for him,” Judge Fahy remarked.

The court heard that Harlowe had 40 previous convictions, among them five for driving without insurance, the last of which was imposed in 2012.

His solicitor, Sean Acton, told the court that his client technically had had insurance in 2016, but that this policy was not worth the paper it was printed on.

“He had been asked to disclose any convictions he’d had in the previous five years, but he didn’t,” he said.

“He had cover, but it was like throwing money into the abyss, it was useless, he had even made a down-payment of €1,400 on it.

“The policy was not cancelled, but this would have rendered it void. If something had happened, the insurance company would have used this as a ‘get-out clause.’”

He asked the court to consider a Community Service order for his client, considering that he had five children, and was now “a marked man.”

The Judge, however, said that Harlowe’s continuous level of offending was proof that he had not learned his lesson.

“The first time he was unable to produce his insurance should have stopped him in his tracks, but he continued on,” she said.

“Once is bad enough, twice is getting worse, but three or four times, that’s totally reckless.”

She imposed a total of eight months imprisonment, and a five-year driving disqualification.

Recognisances were fixed, in the event of an appeal, on his own surety of €400, and an independent surety of €400, half to be lodged in each case.

Free legal aid was granted.