A man caught with 60 fake driving licences and a roll of tape containing the green Irish harp symbol was jailed for a year by Judge Pat McCartan yesterday.
Passing sentence in Trim Circuit Court, the judge said the offence involved scheming and indicated "a bend towards criminality", and the documents were designed to undermine "the good administration of people travelling on our roads".
Before the court was Andrew Stokes (31), O'Hanlon Park, Dundalk, Co Louth, who initially pleaded not guilty to four charges of being in control of material designed for making false instruments under the Theft and Fraud Offences Act. All offences took place at the railway station in Dundalk in January last year.
However, on the second day of his trial and at the completion of the prosecution evidence, he changed his plea.
The court heard that an off-duty garda saw Stokes park his car close to the entrance of the train station and immediately called for assistance as Stokes had been known to him for more than 20 years.
A man got off a train and sat in Stokes's car. A transaction took place, and the man got out of the car and was stopped by gardaí as he went to board a train back to Dublin. He had €650.
When gardaí searched Stokes's car a short time later they found the fake blank pink driving licences and the roll of adhesive tape. They were in a paper bag Stokes had put underneath the passenger seat.
He has two previous convictions, but for unrelated offences, and barrister Pat Purcell said he was a married man with four children and a mortgage. He works with his father in a car dealership.
The judge said he was not offered any explanation as to what Stokes was doing and what the documents were intended for. He imposed 12-month sentences on each count, to run concurrently.