A judge turned job placement officer yesterday when he bought a newspaper, gave it to a young defendant and told him to get one of the many jobs advertised.
Anthony Gilroy, Kingsbury, Maynooth, appeared at Dunshaughlin District Court on summonses of careless driving and not having insurance.
The prosecution arose from a collision at Dunshaughlin on August 20th last which left a woman driver injured and her car a write-off.
When Judge John Brophy asked if Gilroy was able to pay compensation, his solicitor said Gilroy had been out of work since January and was getting £79 a week in unemployment benefit. Judge Brophy said he could not believe this.
"I'll find him a job," he said, giving his Court Registrar a pound to purchase a newspaper from the nearby newsagents.
When the newspaper was produced, the judge turned to the "situations vacant" pages and having been told that Mr Gilroy (19) had some experience as a security officer, he read out a selection of the ads. "There are pages of ads here. You have worked in security and several of these ads are offering an immediate start. Get off your backside and make some telephone calls and get a job," he told Gilroy before giving him the newspaper.
Judge Brophy said a woman had been injured and her car worth between £14,000 and £15,000 written off.
"I don't want every insured motorist in the country paying for him through the Motor Insurance Bureau. We already are carrying through his dole payments as he has not bothered to get a job," he said.
The court had heard Gilroy was driving a friend's car when he overtook a parked vehicle and collided head-on with the other car.
His solicitor said Gilroy did not own a car and had no driving experience.
Judge Brophy adjourned the case to October 2nd for an offer of compensation.