Carlow court translator in court over parking ticket
Naas Courthouse
“DO you think he’s done his penance translating for the court?” smiled the judge in the case of a man who forgot to pay off a parking ticket.
He was speaking in the case of Jakob Wawro (38), with an address on Green Road, Carlow town, who was summonsed to Athy District Court on14 April by Kildare Co Council for failure to pay a parking ticket issued on 12 December 2023 at Meeting Lane car park, Athy.
However, it was to be mildly embarrassing for Mr Wawro, as he was well-known to the court, having assisted in the translation of proceedings with a number of Polish defendants over the years – and it was about to get worse.
“I parked on a yellow box to come to court,” he admitted.
“I got the ticket before Christmas and I completely forgot it. Then the summons came on 2 April,” he said, which was just one of 62 handled for the council that day by their solicitor Cairbre Finan.
“As a translator, he knows every trick in the book,” laughed Judge Desmond Zaidan.
“Do you recognise him, Mr Larkin?” the judge asked of Mr Wawro’s solicitor Brian Larkin, who admitted: “I do indeed.”
As he had pleaded guilty and was convicted on the facts, the judge was satisfied that these were proven and so gave him the benefit of the , which allowed him to leave court without the stain of a formal conviction.
