Fines totalling almost €300k issued in court blitz on M50 toll dodgers

beer enigma

Busy day at court !

26 drivers fined, ranging from €3000 to €16,000 & saying that in all cases except one, 5 sample counts were brought against each driver with photographic evidence and proof of ownership.

As the maximum fine per instance is €5000, I'm assuming that the €3000 had less than 5 sample counts & the €16,000 had way over.

22 others has cases adjourned and 6 were struck out

I wonder is this the going to be a regular thing or just a shot across the bows ?

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/fines-totalling-almost-300k-issued-in-court-blitz-on-m50-toll-dodgers-824157.html

plodder

Good news. They need to pursue the people who didn't show up or engage with the NRA. Otherwise, it's just another case like the lads with a hundred convictions and a dozen driving bans, being "banned" from driving again ie. a further waste of tax payers money.

AlekSmart

plodder wrote: »

Good news. They need to pursue the people who didn't show up or engage with the NRA. Otherwise, it's just another case like the lads with a hundred convictions and a dozen driving bans, being "banned" from driving again ie. a further waste of tax payers money.

Here's last years list....with a bit more meat on the carcass....some interesting details too....;)

https://www.herald.ie/news/judge-hits-motorists-with-130k-in-fines-for-m50-toll-dodging-36338725.html

plodder

AlekSmart wrote: »

Here's last years list....with a bit more meat on the carcass....some interesting details too....;)

https://www.herald.ie/news/judge-hits-motorists-with-130k-in-fines-for-m50-toll-dodging-36338725.html

Looks like nobody showed up on that day, but around half did for the recent one. That's progress I suppose.

duffman3833

More penalties, ranging from €2,500 to €15,000, were handed down by Judge Anthony Halpin at Dublin District Court
https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/eleven-m50-toll-dodgers-fined-total-of-126000-37951448.html

What baffles me in this article is the fact 2000 letters were sent to one person

Some 2,000 letters had also been sent to him with no replies

Did they not get the gist that after like 10 letters and no replies that the person was never going to respond
sure lets send a thousand more ha-ha

mfceiling

I worked with a lad who was using it twice a day and never paid...He lived in Newry. They sent him loads of letters totalling thousands in fines (he would bring stacks of them into work and show us them). Eventually he started getting solicitors letters which he still ignored. After about 6 months he received no more correspondence. This was 2012...The solicitors letters stopped late 2013.

duffman3833

mfceiling wrote: »

I worked with a lad who was using it twice a day and never paid...He lived in Newry. They sent him loads of letters totalling thousands in fines (he would bring stacks of them into work and show us them). Eventually he started getting solicitors letters which he still ignored. After about 6 months he received no more correspondence. This was 2012...The solicitors letters stopped late 2013.

I'm not sure if they would have authority, but they could hand deliver the letter to the persons address, proving the person received it and if no response in a month, bring them to court
sending ridiculous amount of letters is not only a waste of money but a waste of time

coylemj

duffman3833 wrote: »

I'm not sure if they would have authority, but they could hand deliver the letter to the persons address, proving the person received it and if no response in a month, bring them to court
sending ridiculous amount of letters is not only a waste of money but a waste of time

If he lives in Newry, who is going to 'hand deliver' the letter? And what is the point of bringing him to court if he lives across the border? They're not going to extradite him for dodging tolls!

The only solution there is for the Gardai to seize the car if he's stopped and they check out his reg. but I'm not sure if they have the power to do that for toll evasion.

duffman3833

coylemj wrote: »

If he lives in Newry, who is going to 'hand deliver' the letter? And what is the point of bringing him to court if he lives across the border? They're not going to extradite him for dodging tolls!

The only solution there is for the Gardai to seize the car if he's stopped and they check out his reg. but I'm not sure if they have the power to do that for toll evasion.

I didnt mean specifically for him but in general, instead of spending all that money posting letters, could they not send someone to delivery it or something

Charles Babbage

coylemj wrote: »

If he lives in Newry, who is going to 'hand deliver' the letter? And what is the point of bringing him to court if he lives across the border? They're not going to extradite him for dodging tolls!

The only solution there is for the Gardai to seize the car if he's stopped and they check out his reg. but I'm not sure if they have the power to do that for toll evasion.

Nevertheless, they will have handed this over to debt collectors. Now someone might be able to dodge them also, but that lifestyle has its problems also, you'd never get a mortgage or the like.

coylemj

Charles Babbage wrote: »

Nevertheless, they will have handed this over to debt collectors. Now someone might be able to dodge them also, but that lifestyle has its problems also, you'd never get a mortgage or the like.

They would have to get a court judgement against you in order for it to affect your ability to obtain credit.

the14thwarrior

i know someone that ignored ONE journey, claiming it wasn't them. they got the letters and the photos, ignored them. didn't turn up to court.

a few weeks later, the bailiffs turned up at their door, and took the keys to the car to pay off the debt. No comeback, nothing. they lost their car.

fyi it was them that did the journey. idiots ignored the letters and the fines racked up

realdanbreen

A lot of people simply do not give a **** as there will be nothing done about it. I recently saw the partner of a well known criminal come back to her car which was double parked on a main street causing a traffic build up.She first gave the finger to motorists that were beeping her. She then whipped off a parking ticket that was on the car, tore it in pieces and threw it on the stree. Then drove off with her phone up to her ear while roaring abuse at a traffic warden on the street.

ArthurG

the14thwarrior wrote: »

i know someone that ignored ONE journey, claiming it wasn't them. they got the letters and the photos, ignored them. didn't turn up to court.

a few weeks later, the bailiffs turned up at their door, and took the keys to the car to pay off the debt. No comeback, nothing. they lost their car.

fyi it was them that did the journey. idiots ignored the letters and the fines racked up

In a matter of 'a few weeks' a single toll dodge resulted in a car being taken by a bailiff?. Seems a bit of a stretch......

magicbastarder

reading the post, it was a few weeks after ignoring the court date - not a few weeks after travelling over the bridge.

the14thwarrior

Yes, a few weeks after the court date.
apologies if I didn't make it clear.

but it goes to show.........

blackwhite

In all the prosecutions which resulted in the fines being imposed yesterday, none of the defendants appeared in court.

The fact that they didn't bother their ho1es to show up in court gives an insight into the mindset being dealt with.

TheQuietFella

mfceiling wrote: »

I worked with a lad who was using it twice a day and never paid...He lived in Newry. They sent him loads of letters totalling thousands in fines (he would bring stacks of them into work and show us them). Eventually he started getting solicitors letters which he still ignored. After about 6 months he received no more correspondence. This was 2012...The solicitors letters stopped late 2013.

He paid the fines so!