A woman who was sentenced to 14 days in prison for failing to pay a proper bus fare had the prison sentence quashed on appeal in the Circuit Civil Court yesterday. Mr Owen Beechinor, solicitor for CIE, told the court that Ms Ann McGann, of St Catherine's Lawn, Rush, Co Dublin, had purchased a £1 fare when she boarded the bus near her home on May 14th last. "When approached by an inspector she told him she had paid the proper fare of £2.25 but had lost her ticket. The inspector gave her a £25 on-the-spot fine which was not paid." He said Ms McGann had been fined £75 with £30 costs and sentenced to 14 days in prison by the District Court.
A solicitor for Ms McGann said she had made arrangements with her mother to pay the £25 fine but neither she nor CIE had any record of this having been done. The £105 fine and costs had been paid last week. Judge Alison Lindsay affirmed the £105 penalty and quashed the imprisonment term.