A witness in a garda corruption trial told Trim Circuit Court he contacted a garda superintendent after he became uneasy when a garda asked him for his credit card details so he could make a donation to charity instead of being given penalty points for speeding.
John Hayes told the court he was shocked when the garda phoned him and asked him for his credit card details to facilitate the payment.
Mark Egan, 37, who is stationed at Dunshaughlin Garda Station in Co Meath, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of corruptly preventing the issuing of fixed penalty notices.
He pleaded not guilty to one charge of corruptly getting a fixed penalty notice struck out and four charges of inducing motorists to disclose credit cards details with the intention of dishonestly making a gain by deception for the 3Ts charity in October 2012.
The alleged offences were committed in Ratoath, Dunshaughlin, Trim and Navan while the defendant was carrying out his normal road traffic duties and the motorists involved sanctioned credit card payments to the charity totalling €190.
The court heard the defendant had signed up for the 2012 Dublin City Marathon to raise funds for the 3Ts' suicide awareness charity and was using the website mycharity.ie for sponsorship donations.
Mr Hayes told the court he had been pulled over by Garda Egan for speeding near Ratoath on 8 Oct 2012.
He said his wife later received a phone call at home from the garda requesting his mobile number.
He said the defendant rang him and suggested he could make a donation to charity in lieu of a fine and penalty points.
"It sounded as if it was standard practice in the gardaí to do this", said Mr Hayes.
He said he was shocked when the defendant asked him for his credit card details to facilitate the payment.
He said he fobbed the garda off and two days later contacted a garda superintendent about the incident.
Barry Shevlin told the court he had been late for work when Garda Egan caught him speeding on the Curraha road in Co Meath on 8 Oct 2012 and asked if he would consider making a donation to charity instead of being given penalty points.
He said he agreed and later received a phone call from the garda who requested his credit card details and arranged for a donation of €50 for 3Ts through the mycharity.ie site.
Peter Gibney told the court he had agreed to make a similar donation after being caught on his mobile phone while reversing into a parking space in the centre of Trim on the same date.
Replying to prosecuting counsel Carl Hanahoe BL, Anne Marie Woods said she was caught by the defendant when she parked on double yellow lines outside the Post Office in Navan on 9 Oct 2012 and was told she would have to pay €40 to charity instead of being fined.
She said she had wanted the money to go to the Special Hands charity.
Another prosecution witness Brendan Goodman said he had been due in court on 9 of Oct 2012 arising from a motoring offence the previous February but Garda Egan had told him he would sort it out in return for a €50 credit card donation for the 3Ts.
A number of the witnesses denied posting comments on the mycharity.ie site in support of Garda Egan's fundraising.
The court heard that none of the witnesses subsquently received fines or penalty points.
The trial is continuing.
