'took a chance' Motorist fined €200 for attempting to tailgate his way through Dublin port tunnel

AN ELECTRICIAN caught tailgating a vehicle as he drove through the Dublin port tunnel toll plaza "took a chance" on his way to a building site.

Aaron Mostyn (29) was arrested by gardaí who mounted an operation targeting drivers tailgating to avoid paying the toll.

Judge Anthony Halpin fined him €200 at Dublin District Court for careless driving.

Mostyn, an electrician, of Ardross Park, Crossmaglen, Co Armagh, pleaded guilty to the charge after the judge agreed to reduce it from the more serious offence of dangerous driving.

A garda said that on June 1, 2021, he was on duty as part of "Operation Daylight", targeting motorists tailgating other vehicles coming through the port tunnel toll plaza.

He got a call from an inspector who saw the accused drive through the plaza, close to the rear of another vehicle, and failing to pay the toll.

The garda signalled Mostyn to pull over. He did so and was arrested and taken to Store Street garda station.

Mostyn had been travelling to a building site in Swords but when he got there the foreman said he was required at another site, his barrister Tara McLoughlin said.

It had not been his intention to go through the tunnel, but he "took a chance."

The accused was now commuting to a site in Leixlip, Co Kildare, and would lose his livelihood if he was disqualified from driving.

Judge Halpin fined Mostyn but said he would not ban him from driving because he needed his licence to work.