Cork man said he 'stupidly' moved car he was selling 'to get a better photo'

A Cork man who was selling a car and moved it a short distance from his house in order to get a better picture for an online advertisement was charged with driving without a licence as a result, the district court was told.

Sergeant Tom Mulcahy told Clonakilty District Court that 19-year-old Sean O’Toole, of Assumption Place, Clonakilty, was charged with two counts of driving without a licence and two counts of driving without insurance arising from two different incidents.

The court heard on November 26, 2025, at 3.45pm, O’Toole had moved a blue Lexus IS200 car he was selling from his house to a better spot to take a photo of it – about 50m away. When he was returning the car to his home, he was stopped by gardaí and admitted he did not have a licence or insurance to drive the car on the public road.

On January 8, 2026, O’Toole was stopped again, this time driving a blue BMW 3 Series car at the Miles, Clonakilty. O’Toole was stopped because the car had no front number plate. The court was told O’Toole was on his way to a motor factor to get a new number plate for the car, which was due be NCT tested later that day.

Defence solicitor Killian McCarthy said O’Toole had arranged for a friend to bring the car to the NCT centre for him, but did not want to inconvenience him further by asking him to bring the car to get the number plate as well. He said his client “stupidly” made the decision to drive the car to get the number plate himself and was stopped by gardaí.

DISQUALIFIED

The court heard O’Toole had been disqualified from driving due to an accumulation of penalty points when he was stopped three times for driving on a learner permit unaccompanied. 

The court was told he was on his way to work each time and the driving ban was due to expire before the end of January, 2026.

O’Toole had required surgery to his knees, the court heard, which left him bedridden for six months. He was previously an apprentice electrician. 

Mr McCarthy said O’Toole had now started a new apprenticeship as a diesel mechanic and was in the process of taking driving lessons and hoped to take his test in the near future. He said O’Toole had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

Judge Joanne Carroll said she would adjourn the matter to give O’Toole the opportunity to pass his test. She warned him not to drive unaccompanied before the ban expired “no matter what, not if you need a bottle of milk, not for your grandmother”. 

O’Toole was remanded on continuing bail to appear again on May 19.