’I didn’t know the law,’ South African man fined after driving uninsured in Stranorlar - Donegal News

Uninsured Letterkenny man pleads ignorant of the law

A South African man who told a Donegal court he had no idea car insurance was a legal requirement in Ireland has been fined €350, with a judge reminding him that ignorance of the law is no defence.

Djamal Habbas (44), of Garvan Court, Main Street, Ballybofey, appeared before Letterkenny District Court last Monday, charged with having no insurance at Railway Road, Stranorlar, on November 27, 2025.

Representing himself, Habbas told Judge Emile Daly that back in South Africa, insurance is optional for cash car purchases and that he had been completely unaware that the rules were different in Ireland. He said he took out insurance the following morning once he realised it was a legal requirement here.

Judge Daly was unmoved, telling him directly: “You are expected to know the law,” before convicting him on the basis that he had accepted he was driving without insurance.

Despite the conviction, Judge Daly spared Habbas a driving ban as it was a first offence. He was fined €350 and given four months to pay.

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