Wexford man given one-year driving ban for no insurance
The Wicklow PeopleA Wexford man who told Arklow District Court he could not afford to top up his pay-as-you-go car insurance has been disqualified from driving and fined.
Matiss Krumins (23) of 15 Sliabh Amharc, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford was charged at Arklow District Court with driving with no insurance on March 8, 2025.
The solicitor for Mr Krumins told the court that his client had pay-as-you-go car insurance and was unable to top-up due to financial constraints.
It was stated that Mr Krumins was working as a general operative and is on a probationary period.
Mr Krumins’s solicitor told the court that his client was earning €700 a week and needed his vehicle for work purposes. He asked Judge David Kennedy for leniency due to Mr Krumins’s employment situation.
Judge Kennedy declined to be lenient stating that “Mr Krumins was working and can afford to top-up his insurance”.
The court heard that the outstanding balance on the insurance was €200, and Mr Krumins was unable to make payment due to the upcoming birth of his first child and the expense of housing for him and his pregnant girlfriend.
Judge Kennedy initially imposed a two-year disqualification and a €500 fine with six months to pay. Following pleas from the defendant’s solicitor, Judge Kennedy reduced the disqualification to one year, to begin on November 14, 2025.
Judge Kennedy told Mr Krumins that he “took a catastrophic risk”. He asked the defendant when the child was due and agreed to delay the start of the driving ban until one month afterward the due date of his child, which he was informed was October 14, 2025.