Dublin City Council issued a driving licence to a man who had been banned from driving for 20 years, a court heard yesterday.
The licence was given to David Clarke (48), in error, after an endorsement on his previous licence was spotted but the ban was not. The error was not discovered until he applied for a duplicate for the licence he should not have got in the first place.
Dublin District Court heard Mr Clarke, Hillview Estate, Ballinteer, Dublin, was banned from driving in June 1995 for 20 years on a charge of driving without insurance. Yesterday, he asked the court to restore his licence because more than half of the term of the ban had expired and he was now entitled to seek a restoration.
But gardaí objected because, in 2000, just five years into the ban, he had applied for and obtained a provisional licence.
His solicitor, John Doherty, said he was unaware of the 1995 ban because he was not in court at the time of the case. He made an application in 2000 ignorant of this ban, Mr Doherty said. However, the court heard, in the section of the application asking whether he had endorsements or disqualifications, he replied "no".The licence was issued, with the endorsement on it.
However, Mr Clarke lost the licence and applied for a duplicate, stating that he needed it to get a job with a security firm. It was then the error was spotted.
The court heard he was now in a position to get another job if he got his licence back.
Judge Mary Collins refused to restore it.