A Co Tipperary man who picked up two undercover gardaí while posing as a hackney driver escaped going to prison and was put off the road for six years by a Co Clare court yesterday.
John Jarvis (49), of Shoreside, Ballina, was arrested early yesterday on foot of a bench warrant issued by Judge Joseph Mangan on July 21st, the date when the defendant was originally due in court but failed to appear.
The court heard that Jarvis had a long list of convictions in England, dating as far back as 1983, for various offences, including fraud and theft, but mostly for traffic offences. The accused had one previous conviction, for larceny, in this country in 1997.
Yesterday, Killaloe District Court heard from Garda Jean Barriscal that, on January 31st this year, she and a colleague were investigating reports that an unlicensed hackney service was being operated in the Killaloe/ Ballina area.
She said that on the night in question she telephoned Jarvis's service, which had been advertised locally, and asked to be collected in Ballina, Co Tipperary, and taken to O'Briensbridge in Co Clare, about six miles away.
When the car arrived, she and her colleague, Garda Gerry Slattery, asked the driver to take them to Main Street in O'Briensbridge, which the driver did.
"When we arrived in O'Briensbridge, the driver told us that the fare was €10. We then identified ourselves as gardaí and cautioned the accused."
Garda Barriscal asked Jarvis to produce his Public Service Vehicle (PSV) licence, but he admitted he did not have one.
The garda then asked Jarvis to produce his certificate of insurance and PSV licence at a Garda station within 10 days. Jarvis failed to do so. Jarvis had not been issued with a hackney plate by the local authority.
Jarvis faced seven charges yesterday. On the charge of having no insurance, he was sentenced to three months' imprisonment, and disqualified from holding a driving licence for three years. For having no PSV licence, he received another three-month prison sentence, and disqualified from holding a driving licence for a further three years. Judge Mangan suspended both prison sentences, and fined Jarvis €150 and endorsed his licence.
The judge took the other five offences into account. They included failing to produce his insurance certificate, having no vehicle plates, not wearing a driver's badge, not displaying a photograph of the driver in the vehicle and having no licence to operate a small PSV.