Controversial former Olympic boxer Michael O’Reilly has been jailed for three months for driving without insurance thanks to an alert eagle-eyed garda who was investigating a totally different crime when he spotted the fighter behind the wheel.
O'Reilly pleaded not guilty to the offence at Applegreen service station, Birdhill, on February 4, 2019.
Garda John Collins said that he was looking at CCTV footage regarding a separate incident when he observed Mr O’Reilly driving. He knew the defendant was disqualified at the time and could not have been insured.
Nenagh district court heard O’Reilly of Main Road, Clonkeen, Portlaoise, had 10 previous convictions for no insurance.
His barrister, Nicholas Revilles, contended that the plaza at the service station was not a public place and no offence had been committed.
However, Judge Elizabeth MacGrath ruled against the submission.
Mr Revilles told the court that Mr O’Reilly was three weeks away from getting out of prison following a three-month sentence handed down in Portlaoise for assault.
He has become a father to a baby girl "within the past 48 hours," he said.
He also told the court: "The defendant is a top class athlete who hopes to take up where he left off when he was out of jail and regain his place with Sport Ireland.
There are qualifiers coming up for the Tokyo Olympics and he hopes to take part in them, he said.
O'Reilly was jailed for three months and disqualified from driving for four years.
