Offaly man accused of speeding tells court his mother was driving

An Offaly man who was cleared of one speeding charge and convicted of another, was fined €200 at Tullamore District Court.

Dean Guinan (24), 35 St Cormac's Park, Kilcormac, denied driving at more than 50kph in the built-up area at Ballycumber Road, Clashawaun, Clara on October 30, 2020.

He also pleaded not guilty to committing a similar offence at Ballycumber Road, Clara on December 16, 2020.

A hearing before Judge Catherine Staines in relation to the December 16 offence took place first and Garda Jude Doyle said that at 9.08pm on that date he was operating a speed check at the Ballycumber Road when he recorded a white Volkswagen travelling at 82kph in a 50kph zone.

He said he stopped the car and spoke to the driver Dean Guinan and informed him of the speed.

He said Mr Guinan gave him a driving licence and added that he was not sure if there was anybody else in the car. He issued a fixed penalty notice but it was not paid.

Replying to defence counsel Suzanne Dooner, BL, Garda Doyle explained that he was using the garda mobility app (a device which enables gardai to detect details about vehicles) on the date of the alleged offence and he later wrote details into the notebook he was using when giving his evidence.

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Asked if he had spoken to a Ms Guinan who was driving the car, Garda Doyle repeated that he had spoken to Dean Guinan and did not accept that he was mistaken about who was driving.

Linda Guinan said in evidence that she was driving the car on that date and her son was with her.

Ms Guinan detailed that when she saw the lights on the roof of a car Dean asked her to slow down because speed checks were usually done along that stretch of road. She put on the brakes, and then continued driving.

She said a few minutes later she noticed the other vehicle doing a U-turn and coming behind her with blue lights on so she indicated and pulled over.

She said she gave her name and address when she was asked for it and added that the garda had then shone a light over to the passenger seat and said “Oh, Dean Guinan”.

Ms Guinan said she denied the garda's claim that she was “speeding a little bit” and added that he said he did not have to show her the speed gun when she asked for it.

She also recalled telling the garda that the car was registered to Dean but she was a named driver on the insurance policy.
Cross examined by Sergeant James O'Sullivan, who put it to her that Garda Doyle, a guard with 15 years of experience in roads policing, had given “very fair” evidence, Ms Guinan said his evidence was “wrong”.

Ms Guinan also said she was driving and she would have no problem “taking penalty points”, nor would her son, if he had been driving.

She said her son “probably does” have penalty points and added that he could not have produced his driving licence to the guard because it had been lost.

In his evidence, Dean Guinan said the guard's evidence was “completely wrong” and he was “getting harassed” all the time.
Asked by Judge Staines why his mother was driving, Mr Guinan said it was because she was a nervous passenger.

Replying to Sergeant O'Sullivan, Mr Guinan said that “obviously” Garda Doyle did not know the difference between himself and his mother because he was in the passenger seat when the guard spoke to them in the car.

When Sergeant O'Sullivan put it to him that he had “come up with this story” that his mother was driving so that he would avoid penalty points, Mr Guinan denied doing that and denied driving.

Judge Staines said there was clearly a conflict of evidence before the court and though she had “grave suspicions”, she had to give the benefit of the doubt to Mr Guinan and dismiss the prosecution.

The evidence for the prosecution in the offence on October 30, 2020 was given by Garda Declan Sheeran who said he saw a Volkswagen Jetta when he was in a patrol car being driven by Garda Eamon Carroll.

Garda Sheeran said the garda car was travelling at 80kph at Ballycumber Road when it was following the other car for two to three kilometres.

The other car was being driven at the same speed before it was stopped at 8.50pm. The driver was Dean Guinan and he said “something about having to collect something for a child”.

Cross examined by Ms Dooner, Garda Sheeran said he could see the speedometer in the garda car from where he was sitting in the passenger seat.

Dean Guinan told the court that he was on his way to Clara at the time to help his partner with a new baby and he denied travelling at the speed the gardai claimed he was.

Judge Staines said she was convicting Mr Guinan because she was satisfied with the evidence of Garda Sheeran about the speed the accused was driving at.

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Sergeant O'Sullivan then told the court Mr Guinan had eight previous convictions, including two for careless driving which had been reduced from dangerous driving, with fines imposed of €300 and €250. He also had previously been convicted of a public order offence.

Asking Judge Staines to be as lenient as possible, Ms Dooner outlined that Mr Guinan was a father of a 14-month-old child. He had completed the Junior Certificate and the Leaving Certificate and had intended to train as a HGV driver but put a temporary hold on that to help his partner with the child.

Judge Staines gave Mr Guinan four months to pay the €200 fine. She also fixed recognisances for an appeal.