The judge announced he was throwing out all of the cases in the area because of his belief that “the chain of evidence was inherently flawed”.
According to a report in today’s Irish Independent, Judge Sean McBride dismissed 17 prosecutions in the Cavan and Monaghan area in Monaghan District Court yesterday and questioned the integrity of the Go Safe speed vans in general.
McBride spoke of his belief that there were “defects in the serving of the summonses” and that by operating just inside and outside of 30km/h speed zones, detecting offences was like fishing in a “goldfish bowl”.
Judge McBride’s ruling was challenged in court by the Garda Fixed Penalty Office, with Inspector John Joseph McDonald insisting that the vans were “saving 25 lives a year on Irish roads”.
This is not the first case where cases involving Go Safe speed vans have been struck out.
In October, a judge in Clare struck out 98 offences involving the vans because of his belief that Go Safe staff were unable to demonstrate the requisite legal authority to provide evidence on behalf of Gardai.
The Go Safe speed vans, which are operated by a private company on behalf of the Gardai, have been in operation in Ireland since 2009, during which time upwards of 1,300 cases involving the vans and Garda cameras have been dismissed in Irish courts.
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