Uninsured driver loses appeal against consecutive sentence being added to sentence he's serving

An uninsured motorist lost his appeal against a two-month jail term being added to a longer sentence he was serving.

Judge Helen Boyle was told that before this latest conviction for driving without insurance, Kenneth Hornibrook had 26 previous convictions for the same offence.

The judge rejected the appeal he made against the two months being made consecutive to the longer term.

That sentence of four years with the last six months suspended was for refusing to stop and causing a pursuit that saw him crash and put a garda at risk of death or serious injury when he took off suddenly.

Dangerous escapade

The dangerous escapade saw him drive around the north side of Cork city, out to Blarney and back into the city.

At the height of the dangerous driving by Kenneth Hornibrook he crashed the car and a member of An Garda Síochána got into the passenger seat and was about to lean across and grab the keys. However, Hornibrook took off at speed causing the guard to fall from the car.

That sentence was imposed earlier this year.

More recently at Cork District Court on October 4, Hornibrook was given a consecutive two-month sentence for driving without insurance again.

The appellant’s barrister, John Devlin, asked for the two months to be made concurrent. He said the 44-year-old had made great strides in prison in terms of addressing educational issues and tackling his addiction through a methadone programme and counselling.

The judge rejected the appeal, citing in particular the number of his previous convictions for driving without insurance.

Hornibrook of 3 Kilmore Road, Knocknaheeny, Cork, has more than 200 previous convictions in total.