Judge John Garavan admitted to being an old romantic at Galway District Court yesterday when he sympathised with a young man whose efforts to buy his ex-girlfriend a car landed him before the court.
Mr Liam Smith, Upper Newcastle, Galway, bought the woman an old BMW car, worth £800, on April 1st. However, he signed her name to the change of ownership form and so made a false declaration.
Mr Smith's ex-girlfriend told him she did not want anything from him, but he insisted on buying her the car. She opened her front door one morning to find it parked outside and immediately phoned the garda∅. Judge Garavan said Mr Smith might have had better luck had he given the woman his last Rolo.
He accepted that Mr Smith did not realise the seriousness of signing the woman's name on the form.
"Maybe I'm an old romantic but I can't convict him," he said before applying the Probation Act.
Mr Smith told the court he wanted to donate the car to an old folks home, but Judge Garavan said there might not be many people there willing to drive a BMW.