Kerry taxi driver fined for using unlicensed garage vehicle

By Anna Zacharias, The Kerryman

A judge fined a man using an unlicensed vehicle as a taxi at Dingle District Court on last Friday.

Qamar Zaman was stopped at a checkpoint in Milltown on January 1 with four passengers who had paid €10 each for taxi service.

Mr Zaman drove a vehicle loaned from the garage where his car was being serviced.

Although Mr Zaman is licensed to drive a taxi, the loaned vehicle was not.

“As he said himself, he had bills to pay,” said his solicitor Pat Mann.

Mr Mann noted his client owned a phone shop, always worked two jobs and had never sought social welfare.

“As it was New Year’s Day, it seems there was a plausible excuse being that the car was in the garage,” said Judge Catherine Ryan.

A legal representative for National Transport Authority, who had travelled to Dingle from Kildare, said a fine of at least €400 or €600 would be reasonable.

Mr Mann agreed a fine was just, adding, “We wouldn’t be bringing him all the way from Kildare to leave with an empty pocket.”

The judge ordered €400 be paid by October 24 and struck the case from the record.