Don't leave uninsured cars in public, Judge warns

Tuesday 08 October 2019

Having a car that is uninsured parked on public property is illegal even if the car isn't driven, a Magistrate's Court Judge has warned.

Judge Graeme McKerrell was sentencing Agostinho Alves, 28, after his car was found parked on Sausmarez Estate while uninsured. He said Alves was the latest in a string of people to have committed this offence.

He was ordered to pay a £350 fine and was banned from driving for 12 months. 

While Alves had not driven the car since its insurance had expired, it had been left on public property. When Guernsey Police came across the vehicle on the 3 July this year, it had a faded insurance disk which looked outdated.

They got in touch with Alves, and he told them it was not insured because he could no longer afford to pay the direct debit. He had been given the car by a partner earlier in the year to learn to drive. 

He knew leaving the car there uninsured was against the law. 

Judge McKerrell commented that he "yet again" found himself sentencing people who had not paid insurance for a vehicle they had left on public property. 

Pictured top: A Guernsey Insurance Disc, used to show you have valid insurance for the year.