Carrick man wasn't living at halting site

A Carrick-on-Shannon man who told Gardai that he lived at the local halting site, when he actually lived at another address in the town, was convicted of a breach of the temporary Covid regulations that were in force at the time, namely the movement of persons not resident in the State.

Brian Stokes, 14 Courthouse View, Carrick-on-Shannon failed to appear in court on Friday, January 28 last and also failed to appear on the previous occasion, November 16, 2021.

Garda Sinead McHale told the court she was carrying out a checkpoint at Rosebank, Attifinlay, Carrick-on-Shannon on March 11, 2021. Brian Stokes passed through the checkpoint on three occasions with a number of people in his car.

He said he was a resident of the halting site but she was aware he resided in another area of Carrick-on-Shannon and later observed his car parked at 14 Courthouse View.

A fixed charge penalty notice was issued and not paid. He has one previous conviction for a Covid related offence from Carrick-on-Shannon District Court last October where he was fined €200 for attending an event in a dwelling house.

Judge Sandra Murphy convicted and fined him €300 for this offence, allowing three months to pay.