Unbelted children slept as groom’s mother caught speeding

A mother of the groom has been convicted for speeding on the way home from her son’s wedding.

Ann Barbara Maughan (35) of Railway Terrace, Ballina Road, Swinford, was charged with speeding and failure to ensure her passengers under 17 years were wearing seatbelts on the N4 at Rinn, Sligo on July 6, 2021.

Maughan pleaded guilty to both charges before Judge Deirdre Gearty at Sligo District Court last week.

Sgt Derek Butler told the judge that at 12.50am on the date in question the Garda Roads and Policing Unit had a checkpoint set up on the N4. They detected a car driving at 123kph in a 100kph zone while the roads were “very wet”.

When the car was stopped by Gardaí, they found it being driven by Maughan who had two young boys asleep under a duvet in the back who were unsecured by any seat belts. They demanded her insurance documents and issued a fixed penalty charge which was not paid.

The court heard Maughan had 27 previous convictions.

Ms Kathleen Henry BL, defending, told Judge Gearty that Maughan’s insurance was in order all along and had been verified.

Ms Henry said Maughan apologised and explained she was on her way home from her son’s wedding that night. It had “slipped her mind” to pay the fixed penalty charge. She added that her client was a volunteer with the National Council for the Blind in Ireland (NCBI) and looked after her grandchildren and had one grandchild in hospital.

Judge Gearty told the court that driving with two children without seat belts was something she took seriously and if there was ever an accident it would mitigate against the children. “She needs to look after her children, every responsible parent ensures that,” she added.

She convicted and fined Maughan €100.