A garda has told Kilkenny District Court how she was screamed at by a former Ireland international hockey player after she informed her that her uninsured car would be seized.
A suspended prison sentence has been handed down to Catriona Carey for her second offence of driving without a licence or insurance while disqualified from driving.
Carey of Weir View Hill, Castlecomer Road, Kilkenny, appeared before Kilkenny District Court this morning following a warning in her absence last week that failing to appear would result in a bench warrant being issued.
Barrister Kevin Roche, for Carey, said his client pleaded guilty to all four charges: driving without insurance and without a driving licence at Weir View, Kilkenny, on 10 December 2021; also driving without insurance and without a driving licence at Glendine, Castlecomer Road, Kilkenny, on 21 November 2021.
Garda Julie Chapman told the court that on 21 November 2021, she was operating a garda speed check at Glendine, Kilkenny. At 3.50pm she observed a BMW driving at 70km in a 50km zone. The garda stopped the car and spoke to the driver, Carey.
Garda Chapman asked Carey for her driving licence. She told the garda she did not have it on her at the time but she did have a picture of it on her phone.
The garda used a mobile device to scan the licence and it came up that Carey was disqualified from driving and had failed to hand in her licence.
It was explained to Carey that she was disqualified and she did not have a valid licence, which meant she was not covered by insurance.
The garda informed Carey she was going to seize the car. At this, Carey screamed at the garda and refused to hand over the keys. "She was totally out of control," the garda said. Carey wanted to know how she was going to get her kids to school and do the shopping.
The car was seized. Carey eventually calmed down, the garda told the court.
Garda Tom Loughnane gave evidence that on 10 December 2021, he observed Carey driving at Weir View. He was aware at the time that she was disqualified from driving, on penalty points.
The garda stopped Carey and informed her she was disqualified. Carey asked: "Are you targeting me?" And asked was she being picked on. "Do you expect me to get taxis?"
He asked for her licence and insurance documents.
Mr Roche put it to both gardaí that Carey's guilty pleas were of assistance, which they agreed.
He also told the court that there had been some confusion about Carey’s final set of penalty points, which pushed her over the edge to disqualification, and she had been attempting to appeal them.
Mr Roche said his client had never been banned from driving in a court and it was not a case that she had "flagrantly disregarded" a court order.
Carey, 44, is a mother of two and their primary carer, Mr Roche said. These offences occurred at the height of the pandemic and Carey had to drive for the care of her children, he said.
Mr Roche said his client especially wanted to apologise to Garda Chapman for the events at the side of the road.
Judge Geraldine Carthy said she noted the apology and the mitigation from Mr Roche.
For driving without insurance on the November date, Carey was convicted and fined €300. She was also disqualified from driving for two years.
Judge Carthy said it was "very difficult to offer an excuse" for the second incident, on 10 December, when Carey had been stopped on 21 November, then she got into the car again knowing full well that she was disqualified.
For driving without insurance on the second date, Carey was convicted and a sentence of three months' imprisonment handed down. This is to be suspended for 12 months on condition Carey enter a bond to keep the peace.
She was also disqualified from driving for four years.
Carey was convicted in February 2020 for the theft of €6,948 and for forging a cheque from a Kilkenny hairdresser, Nigel Kenny, who had hired her as his accountant. She pleaded guilty and was given an eight-month suspended prison sentence.
She is currently under investigation by the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau for her involvement in a scam to defraud homeowners who had fallen into arrears on their mortgages.
In February, RTÉ Investigates revealed that she defrauded at least 18 people of a combined sum of around €500,000.
Carey used her UK-registered company, Careysfort Asset Estates Limited, of which she is the sole director, as the vehicle for the scam.
She offered to buy distressed mortgage loans from lenders at a discount and sell them back to the original borrowers at a similar discount.
Most of those who were duped paid around €15,000 to €35,000 while some paid €60,000.
Those sums, paid as refundable deposits, were, as subsequently reported by RTÉ Investigates, used to buy luxury clothes, foreign holidays and even the BMW car that Ms Carey was today convicted of driving without insurance. The company account was also used to repay the €6,948 stolen from the Kilkenny hairdresser.
