Driver has ‘run out of road’
A MAN due to start work the day after he appeared at Cavan District Court on a litany of driving offences has been sent to prison for five months and banned from driving for a decade.
Arnold Lingurar (24) of Melville, Shercock Road, Bailieboro, appeared before the local court on two separate summonses.
The first was brought by Gda Mark Greally who was sworn in and gave evidence that he was on routine patrol in the Bailieborough area on January 1, 2025, when he observed a silver Vauxhall car approach gardaí from the Shercock Road.
“It then took off and I observed the car making an immediate left without indicating,” Gda Greally said.
“When the car stopped, I observed the driver jump from the driver’s seat into the passenger seat,” the guard told the court.
When Gda Greally spoke to Arnold Lingurar, he denied switching seats and said “his mate” was driving.
“When I asked him where his mate was, he said he didn’t know,” the garda said in evidence.
Gda Greally said he then noticed that the car had no tax, NCT nor insurance.
When it was the turn of Lingurar’s barrister to question Gda Greally, she successfully argued for the matter to be dismissed.
“No evidence has been put before the court that this was a public place, no address was given in evidence” the defence barrister said and presiding Judge Raymond Finnegan dismissed three charges against Lingurar including driving without reasonable consideration, the non-display of a tax disc and non-display of an insurance cert.
The second summons for which Arnold Lingurar was before Cavan District Court related to an incident in Co Monaghan six months earlier.
Gda Keenan took the stand and gave evidence of pulling Lingurar over at Drummond Otra, Carrickmacross, on June 14, 2024, for driving without a licence and without insurance.
“He was disqualified when Gda Keenan stopped him,” Sergeant Damien Galligan told the judge.
The court presenter also explained how the defendant has several previous convictions for theft including one on October 11, 2024, for which he received a four-month prison sentence that was suspended for four months.
Five months later, in March 2025, Lingurar was handed a five-month prison sentence for driving without insurance, suspended for a period of two years.
“The suspended sentence will be activated by this offence,” Sgt Galligan pointed out.
“Mr Lingurar has run out of road,” the judge concurred.
Sgt Galligan also said when Lingurar was due to be sentenced over the Carrickmacross offences at Monaghan District Court on May 5, 2025, he didn’t turn up and a bench warrant had to be issued for his arrest.
The defence described her client as an epileptic who takes medication for his condition. She explained that Arnold Lingurar has a partner and young child and how his own father is in poor health.
She also told Judge Finnegan that her client was due to start work the following day as a waiter in a restaurant in Virginia, “which would benefit everyone”.
Judge Finnegan convicted Lingurar of driving without insurance at Carrickmacross in 2024 and sentenced him to five months in prison. He was also disqualified from driving for 10 years while the driving without a licence charge was taken into consideration.
* This report was published with support from the Court Reporting Scheme.