Fines of €900 have been imposed on a garda who was found to have no driving licence, no car tax, and two bald tyres on his car following a fatal accident on a motorway outside Limerick.
Two people died as a result of the incident in January 2011.
Garda Enda Clifford appeared at the District court in Limerick on a number of charges arising from an investigation by the Garda Ombudsman's Office into the fatal accident on the M20 motorway outside Limerick on 13 January 2011.
Garda Clifford, who is based at Henry Street Garda Station, is a native of Killorglin, with an address at Milltown, Co Kerry.
He was described in court as being a member of the Traffic Corps, but Henry Street Garda station has said he was never a member of the corps.
The court heard Garda Clifford was driving home after work on the M20 southbound motorway outside Limerick when he was confronted by two pedestrians who were on the ground in the middle of the road.
They suffered fatal injuries after they were struck by Garda Clifford's car.
During the investigation which followed, it transpired that Garda Clifford had no driving licence, no car tax and had two bald tyres which the court heard today were extensively worn.
Garda Clifford made a plea admitting to all charges.
His solicitor, Dan O'Gorman, said that Garda Clifford had been on late duty for a number of days prior to this incident.
Garda Clifford realised the condition of his vehicle was not as it should be, and intended to go to a dealer to get tyres but the dealer did not have the tyres he needed, the court was told.
Mr O'Gorman said a very intensive forensic investigation had been conducted at great expense to the State.
He said Garda Clifford had no previous convictions, had an impeccable record and was a good and upstanding member of the community.
The solicitor said while he did not want to dilute the tragic consequences of this accident, the garda was not facing any driving charges and there was no criminal culpability in the case.
Judge Tim Lucey said there was a tragic background to the case, and noted that no driving charges were being brought, adding that this was a matter for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
He imposed a €200 fine for having no driving licence, a further €200 for having no car tax and a fine of €250 on each of two charges of having defective tyres.
Charges of failing to produce a driver's licence, and having no tax displayed were taken into account given the guilty plea.
No further garda investigation is being carried out into this fatal accident, as all matters, including any criminal matters that may arise, are investigated in their entirety by the Garda Ombudsman's Office.
