Littleton woman given suspended sentence for driving while disqualified

A Littleton woman has been given a four-month suspended sentence for driving while disqualified by Thurles District Court.

Lisa O’Hanlon (48) of Ballydavid, Littleton pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified and driving without a licence on November 28, 2022.

The court heard the defendant was stopped by gardaí at a checkpoint on Mill Road, Thurles. The guard told the court that Ms O’Hanlon admitted immediately that she did not have a valid licence.

The court heard that Ms O’Hanlon had two previous traffic-related convictions including driving while intoxicated and had been disqualified from driving for three years.

The defendant was disqualified at the time of this offence. However, the solicitor for the defendant JJ Fitzgerald said there were mitigating factors which contributed to the incident. He said that his client had been called to work urgently and “took a chance.”

However, Judge Elizabeth MacGrath said that driving while disqualified was a very serious matter.

Taking the charge of driving without a licence into consideration, Judge MacGrath imposed a four-month prison sentence suspended for two years for driving while disqualified.

She also fined the defendant €500 and disqualified her from driving for a further four years.