A driver who borrowed a clapped out van to do a favour for a relative ended up being hauled in front of the magistrates’ bench for her trouble.
Margaret Bryson Skeoch, of Quine’s Way in Ballasalla said she had no idea the Transit van she borrowed was unroadworthy.
She told police she borrowed the van to collect a sofa for her nephew. Police escorted the van to Corkill’s garage in Onchan where two men who were also in the van, got out and tried to get the back lights to work.
For the prosecution, Hazel Carroon told the court: ’The van looked old and in disrepair and believing it to be in an unroadworthy condition it was seized by police to be examined.’
She told magistrates the inspection unearthed a catalogue of 20 defects which ranged from a missing rubber pad on the clutch pedal to corroded brake pipes. Faults included defective lights, worn out front tyres, worn shock absorbers, a door hanging off where the hinge had rusted through, a loose, blowing and smoking exhaust, and holes in the body panels.
To add insult to injury, the defendant found her comprehensive insurance policy, which she assumed would cover her to drive vehicles other than her own, did not.
The 54-year-old admitted driving a vehicle in a dangerous condition and driving without insurance.
Defending her, Ian Kermode said Skeoch was simply trying to be a good samaritan. He said the lights were working when she borrowed the van from a neighbour but something, perhaps a fuse appeared to have blown during their journey.
’She genuinely thought she was insured but she was under a misapprehension,’ he said.
She was fined £225 for no insurance and £225 for the van’s poor condition. Her licence was endorsed and she pays £50 costs.
The van’s owner, Daniel McKivett, of Homefield Villas, Ballasalla, was fined £400 and £225 with £50 costs for allowing the van to be driven in poor condition without insurance.