Two months in prison for Limerick man caught for fifth time with no insurance

A MAN convicted for the fifth time for driving without insurance was sentenced, at Newcastle West court, to two months imprisonment and disqualified from driving for 10 years.

Before the court was Filipe Ricardo De Silva, 35 The Glebe, Monagea, who pleaded to all charges and who was, his solicitor Michael O’Donnell said, the sole guardian of his young child.

Garda Seán Sheehy, who stopped Mr De Silva on the N20 at Croom on September 15, 2020, gave evidence of four previous convictions for driving without insurance.

Pleading for his client, Mr O’Donnell acknowledged it was a fifth conviction, but said there had been none since 2020 and since then, Mr De Silva had become sole guardian of his four-year-old child. His client, the solicitor said, worked on a farm in Croom on the minimum wage but now had a drive to and from work and he appealed for a non-custodial penalty.

“Notwithstanding that he is sole guardian, this is the fifth time he is facing conviction for no insurance,” Judge Carol Anne Coolican said, adding that she had “no option” but to impose a custodial sentence of two months. She disqualified him from driving for 10 years but fixed recognisance with leave to appeal