Fahan teen who drove Range Rover without insurance escapes ban in court

An Inishowen teenager who drove a Range Rover without insurance cover last summer has avoided a driving ban on a first offence.

Darragh Fletcher, of Carraig an Chuilithin, Lisfannon, Fahan, pleaded guilty to separate charges of no insurance and failure to produce insurance at Carndonagh District Court.

The 19-year-old defendant appeared in court along with his grandfather.

Prosecuting, Garda Sergeant Conor Mulkerns explained how the detection was made during the early hours of August 7, 2025 at Gaddyduff, Clonmany.

Garda Eoghan McAllister had been on duty at the Clonmany Festival at approximately 2.50am on that date, when he observed a UK-registered Range Rover drive past, forcing another vehicle to have to brake suddenly.

Garda McAllister signalled the vehicle to stop, and the driver identified himself as Darragh Fletcher.

He produced a learner permit to Garda McAllister, while the vehicle did not have L-plates.

A lawful demand was made for Mr Fletcher to produce a certificate of insurance or exemption to a Garda station of his choice within ten days, but the documents were not produced.

Sgt Mulkerns revealed how Mr Fletcher, who has no previous convictions, was issued with fixed charge penalty notices in respect of the offences regarding unaccompanied driving, and they were paid.

Defending the case, solicitor Ciaran MacLochlainn said his young client assumed he was insured to drive at the time – and he handed the insurance certificate into the judge.

“My client is a 19-year-old single man; he works as a roofer. He lives with his mother and stepfather. His stepfather had given him his vehicle to drive, which had an open-driven policy on it, and he thought he was covered.”

“However, if you look at the certificate of insurance, you’ll see that it is open-driven, but it’s only for people who are over the age of 25, and unfortunately, my client was not covered as a result.”

Mr MacLochlainn urged Judge Emile Daly not to impose a disqualification, given the circumstances and given that it was a first offence. He said Mr Fletcher relies on his licence.

“He needs his licence for work, and he also looks after his two younger sisters; he drives them to school, and he takes them to grinds, as well as sports.”

“He also does a lot of work for his stepfather and his mother around the house. This was a first offence and he was fully cooperative.”

Judge Daly asked how much the young Fahan man makes as a roofer, and was told “around €400 per week”.

She convicted him of driving without insurance and imposed a fine of €400, with four months to pay.

The judge did not impose a disqualification on a first offence, while 'taking into account' the other charge of failure to produce insurance documents contrary to Section 69.