Entertainer Adele King, better known as Twink, has been fined €1,000 for driving without insurance.
The TV and stage entertainment veteran was warned by a judge that she would be jailed for five days if she does not pay the fine within five months.
The 62-year-old performer spent the morning of her birthday at Dublin District Court where she entered guilty pleas to having no insurance or NCT on a 05-registered car and driving “without reasonable consideration for other persons” on the M50 at Ballymount, in Dublin, on January 6th last year.
Judge John Coughlan agreed to a request from Garda Shane Bonner, who is attached to the Traffic Corps based in Dublin Castle, to strike out five related summons for failing to produce a certificate of insurance or certificate of exemption to gardai within 10 days; failing to produce a driving licence on January 6th, 2012, as well as failing to produce a NCT cert within 10 days, driving without a licence and failing to produce a licence within 10 days.
Defence counsel Maurice Coffey told Judge Coughlan that the garda “saw a dog in the rear window of Ms King’s car and the window was open” adding that the officer became concerned about that as “it appeared dangerous”.
Mr Coffey explained that the mother-of-two had transferred her insurance to another car while she had been abroad and “forgot to change it back over”.
“What does she work at?” Judge Coughlan asked at which counsel replied that she is in the entertainment business.
Judge Coughlan noted that the panto star, with an address at Idrone House, Idrone Avenue, Knocklyon, Dublin 16, had no prior criminal convictions. He struck out the charge for driving “without reasonable consideration for other persons” but fined her for not having insurance.
The charge of not having an NCT for the car, which has since been sold, was taken into consideration.