A Cloone farmer whose license was suspended was stopped at a Garda checkpoint in Mohill earlier this year as he was driving a jeep and towing a cattle trailer with cattle inside, the Leitrim Observer reported.
Evin McKeon, Cloone Village, Co. Leitrim, is charged with being disqualified on April 9, 2022 in Coolabawn, Mohill.
The court heard Gardai had a checkpoint at the Mohill entrance and Mr McKeon was driving a jeep and towing a cattle trailer loaded with cattle when he was stopped. Garda Farrell was aware that Mr McKeon’s driver’s license had been revoked. Mr McKeon has six prior convictions and was banned from driving for four years in 2021.
Attorney John McGuinness said his client pleaded guilty.
Judge Sandra Murphy noted that this would be the defendant’s third conviction for lack of insurance, and she said she was very concerned that this man was found at the wheel just “seven months after his disqualification”.
Mr McGuinness explained that the 28-year-old lives in Cloone with his elderly mother and had walked and cycled to the family farm following his disqualification, but a neighbor asked him to take cattle to market and he complied.
Judge Murphy interjected, “He knows he can’t.”
The court heard that Mr McKeon is still a learner driver, and the judge commented, “That’s not good.”
She advised him to join the Driver Awareness program and adjourned the matter to January 27, 2023 so she could fully evaluate her options.
https://www.independent.ie/business/farming/news/courts/leitrim-farmer-caught-towing-cattle-to-mart-while-disqualified-42213190.html Leitrim farmer caught towing cattle to market while disqualified
