Case dismissed as farm worker ‘didn’t know what he was doing’

‘I DON’T believe he knew what he was doing,’ concluded Judge Brian O’Shea in the case of a Romanian man accused of making a false declaration in order to obtain a driving licence.

Farm worker Nicu Matyas (45) from 3 Daphne View, Enniscorthy, stood disqualified from driving when he turned up at the NDLS office in Wexford to apply for the licence in January of last year.

He had been put off the road the previous November on conviction for a motor insurance offence and was therefore not entitled to take out the licence.

The defendant followed proceedings with the assistance of a translator and solicitor John O’Donovan stated that his client had no English.

On the day in question, when the form was filled in at the office in Redmond Square, he was accompanied by a friend called Benjamin.

The friend was in court to tell how they were assisted by a staff member of the NDLS on the day in question.

Mr O’Donovan pointed out that the form they filled out had at least 41 sections, including a declaration that he was not disqualified.

Benjamin said he did not know at the time that the accused was banned from holding a licence.

Judge O’Shea said the law presumed that the person filling out the form understood what he had signed.

However, in this case, the evidence raised a doubt as to whether this was true.

The case was then dismissed.