Road traffic offending has reached epidemic proportions, says Cork judge
Mallow District Court heard that the accused was stopped by a garda patrol in Charleville where he was found to be driving without valid motor tax or insurance. File picture
The volume of road traffic prosecutions coming before the district court appears to be reaching epidemic proportions, according to a Cork judge who sentenced a man for his sixth conviction for driving without insurance.
At a recent sitting of Mallow District Court, Judge Colm Roberts said: “I don’t know if it’s just this district but it looks to me like there is an epidemic of road traffic offending. I just don’t understand it.”
Judge Roberts made the comments when sentencing Anatols Atajevs, aged 30 of Carrig Court, Church Road, Blackrock, Cork.
Court presenter Sergeant Linda O’Leary told the court that Atajevs was stopped by a garda patrol in Charleville, Co Cork on August 29, 2025, where he was found to be driving without valid motor tax or insurance.
Atajevs was prosecuted for driving without insurance, driving without a licence and failing to produce his insurance documents. The court was told that this was Atajevs’ sixth prosecution for driving without insurance.
Judge Roberts said: “This is very serious. I take it very seriously even if some people don’t.”
For driving without insurance Atajevs was disqualified from driving for six years and sentenced to four months in prison, with two months suspended for two years. He was also placed under Probation Service supervision for one year.
For driving without a licence he was sentenced to two months in prison and the failure to produce documents charge was taken into consideration. The prison sentences were backdated to commence from September 9.
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