‘Panic’ learner driver lied to gardaí by giving out her sister’s details when she was stopped in Phibsborough
Hayleigh Reynolds gave gardaí false information. Photo: Paddy Cummins
A makeshift driver believed the car she was in would be seized by gardaí so she “panicked” and pretended to be her sister, a court heard.
Hayleigh Reynolds, 26, ended up spending three hours in a cell when gardaí discovered she had given them the wrong name.
Judge Bryan Smyth said he would drop the case and leave her with no criminal record if she donated €200 to charity.
Reynolds, of St Peter’s Close, Royal Canal Bank, Phibsborough, pleaded guilty to making false statements to gardaí.
Sergeant Máire McDevitt told Dublin District Court that gardaí were on patrol on Phibsborough Road on October 3 when they saw the defendant driving a Nissan Qashqai. She was using a mobile phone while driving and was stopped by gardaí.
When asked for her driver’s license, she was unable to produce it, but said she had a full license and gave a false name and date of birth.
She was arrested and her correct details were determined. Reynolds, who had no criminal record, had a provisional license and was driving her mother’s car at the time, said her lawyer, Matthew de Courcy. Her mother was a passenger.
The Garda had told her that the car would be taken away if she did not have the full driving license and she “panicked and gave her sister’s name”.
The car was impounded and she was taken to a Garda station where she spent three hours in a cell, which left her “shocked”.
The defendant worked in dermatology and the crime was an isolated incident, Mr De Courcy said
