Evidence given by Audrey Flynn, daughter of former EU commissioner Mr Padraig Flynn, was described yesterday by a District Court judge as "so breathtakingly arrogant" that she adjourned sentencing to allow a psychological or psychiatric report to be carried out on the defendant.
Judge Mary Devins said she had formed the very definite opinion that Flynn, who was accompanied in court by her father, had attempted to mislead the court and perhaps even her solicitor, Mr Pat Moran.
Flynn (31) of Manor Village, Castlebar, appeared before Castlebar District Court for sentencing in relation to a case against her in December 1999, involving 22 motor offences.
These related primarily to the defendant's providing a school bus service to pupils in a van she had purchased for £500 and which she had not insured for public-service purposes.
Flynn's partner, Mark Winters, was also before the court. Her father also attended the hearing.
At the previous hearing Judge Devins said the fact that young children were being transported in an uninsured vehicle was such a serious matter that she was considering a prison sentence.
Yesterday, the court heard that eight additional summonses in relation to a road accident at Saleen, Castlebar, on June 18th, were also pending against Flynn.
In evidence, Flynn first denied that three children she had been transporting were being driven for financial gain. She denied she was paid £7 and said she had never provided the service on the Ballyheane run.
Questioned by the judge, Flynn said the June 18th service was a once-off. She subsequently added she might have ferried the children three times, and in further evidence said it may have been on five or six occasions.
Judge Devins then called a recess and appealed to Flynn's solicitor, Mr Moran, to talk with his client, as things were getting "cloudier and murkier by the second".
On resumption, Flynn amended her denial of ever having provided the service, and said it had never been contracted to her, but through her partner.
Mrs Breege McManamon, of Lakeshore Drive, Castlebar, whose children were being dropped off that afternoon, said in evidence that it was the practice for them on a Monday morning to pay £7 to either Flynn or Winters for the service of collecting and delivering each of their children to and from the school during the week.
Mrs McManamon said she used to pay either Audrey Flynn or Mark Winters, "with money in a brown envelope every Monday".