A motorist who smashed his Audi into a stone wall when he swerved to avoid running over a cat was charged with careless driving.
The charge was later withdrawn by the prosecution but it emerged the driver Michael Craig Fitzgerald Pereira, was also driving without insurance or a driving licence.
The accident happened at Stadium corner on Malew Road, on December 10, as the 35-year-old was driving his girlfriend’s car, a silver Audi A3, shortly before 10am.
For the prosecution, James Robinson said: ‘A cat ran out and he swerved and hit the near-side stone wall. The front wheel was bent but there was no damage to the stone wall.’
Describing it as a ‘regrettable incident’, Pereira’s advocate, Ian Kermode, said it had been a ‘silly error of judgement’.
‘He decided to bring home his partner’s car from Ballasalla to his home address (at Callow’s Yard) when a cat ran out in front of him,’ he said.
Mr Kermode said his client had moved to the island two years ago and stayed at home with his children while his partner worked. He said Pereira’s circumstances had changed and he had been offence free for the past five years. He intended learning to drive in the near future.
He was fined £400 for having no insurance and banned from driving for six months. He was fined £100 for driving without a licence and must pay £50 costs.