Niall Mellon, the philanthropist who runs a house building programme for poor communities in South Africa, has been spared a speeding conviction after paying €250 to a charity fighting homelessness in Ireland.
The businessman and charity boss appeared at Dublin District Court yesterday as a result of the non-payment of an €80 fixed-penalty notice speeding fine.
Judge Michael Coghlan heard that Mr Mellon’s car had been detected driving at 65km/h in a zone governed by a 50km/h speed limit, on August 1st last, at Auburn Avenue, Castleknock. A fixed-penalty notice was sent to his address but was not paid.
Mr Mellon (46), of Goatstown, told Judge Coghlan he normally resided at his given address but that he spends a lot of time overseas. He would have paid the notice if it had been received and he then showed the judge a folder containing all his motoring documentation. He said anything to do with his car was “meticulously kept” by his wife in the folder. “If she had received it she would have contacted me,” he said before he told the judge, “I have more to be doing than being here today – I’m supposed to be overseas.”