A learner driver has been given a lesson on getting behind the wheel without a qualified driver.
Ademolu Ogunnaike was put off the road for six months and fined €750 after being caught driving unaccompanied – twice on the same day.
The 26-year-old appeared before Letterkenny District Court in Co Donegal.
He was charged with being the holder of a learner permit which required him to be accompanied by and under the supervision of a qualified person.
Ogunnaike was initially stopped by gardaí on Pearse Road in Letterkenny on September 13th, 2020.
When gardaí realised he was a learner driver, they impounded Ogunnaike's car and brought it to Letterkenny Garda station.
However, just a short time after having his car released, he was stopped again by gardaí at Cullion Road in Letterkenny.
Judge Deirdre Gearty asked: "How did he get the car back?"
Garda Sergeant Sean McDaid told the court that he went to the Garda station, recovered his car but then went back on the road unaccompanied as a learner driver.
The court heard that Ogunnaike, of Northland Road in Derry, had a number of previous convictions for speeding, possession of drugs and driving with no insurance.
Judge Gearty fined Ogunnaike €250 for the first offence.
However, she doubled that fine for the second offence and banned Ogunnaike from driving for six months.
