Serial M50 payment evaders hit with €434,000 in fines

Tom Tuite

Fines totalling €434,000 were handed down to 18 M50 toll evaders — including one driver with more than 1,000 unpaid trips — following a series of prosecution no-shows.

At Dublin District Court on Monday, Judge Anthony Halpin said he had to send a message out.

"The most important infrastructure we have in this country is our roads. And last week these roads were hijacked by protestors and paralysed this country".

He added that closing them causes significant grief for ordinary decent people.

Turning to the gravity of the M50 toll prosecutions, he remarked that most defendants ignore the proceedings and "think the rest of us have to pay their tolls for them".

Some 16 motorists received the maximum fine of €25,000 in their absence.

Among them was car owner Reece Quinn, of The Grove, Milltree Park, Ratoath, Co. Meath. He had the highest number of outstanding tolls, 1,087, on Monday's bumper court list.

Just one commercial vehicle owner was among the absent defendants and also received the highest possible fine for failing to pay for any of 79 journeys on the country's busiest motorway.

The only defendant to attend was a 65-year-old grandmother who had paid for 281 of 460 trips.

However, the judge noted significant mitigating factors outlined by defence counsel, Bakshi Mohit.

Mohit told the court his client had failed to keep up with the tolls while having to constantly drive to her elderly parents' home to carry out welfare checks or bring them to hospital appointments.

She was ordered to stay in the courtroom until the judge released her at the end of the hearing, minutes later, under a little-known provision in section 12 of the 1914 Criminal Justice Administration Act.

It allows a District Court to order an offender's detention in station cells or in the court precinct until 8pm on the day of conviction, rather than passing a prison sentence.

Meanwhile, no-show defendants were also ordered to pay €350 costs within three months, on top of their fines.

Prosecuting counsel Thomas Rice (instructed by Pierse Fitzgibbon Solicitors) said each defendant faced five sample counts for journeys from mainly April to September, and their cases could go ahead in their absence.

The prosecution witness confirmed each vehicle's records, the number of passages, and payment history. There was also evidence showing they were the registered owners at the time.

Images of all the vehicles passing the toll gantry were among the prosecution's evidence.

The court can impose fines of up to €5,000 per charge and a six-month sentence. However, the motorway operator's practice is to prosecute habitual non-payers.

The standard toll for a private car is now €3.80, payable before 8pm the following day; otherwise, a penalty is added.

Surcharges ramp up after 56 days, followed by warning letters and court proceedings if it remains unpaid. Commercial and goods vehicle owners pay more, and registered owners are liable.

21 cases were adjourned to give defendants a chance to engage with the motorway operators.