Luna
23-09-2005, 08:54
Pop star Samantha Mumba was allowed to drive home from court after all motoring charges against her were struck out.
The 22-year-old Irish singer, who is to appear in a forthcoming gangster film with Vinnie Jones, was stopped last November by Irish police on the M1 motorway in Santry in Dublin. She was charged on five counts with failing to produce a driving licence and insurance certificate and having no driving licence, insurance disc and motor tax disc.
At Dublin District Court, garda John Faherty said he had received proof that her driving licence was in order on the date in question and added that her car had since been back-taxed. Judge Anne Ryan struck out the four charges relating to the failure to have tax or a driving licence.
The charge of having no insurance was struck out at a previous hearing of the case last July when Mumba, from Gracepark Road, Drumcondra, in north Dublin, produced evidence of an insurance certificate.
Mumba, dressed in jeans, a brown cardigan, white shirt and knee high black boots, opted to represent herself but did not have to speak during her short time in the witness box. She was accompanied by a female friend and her boyfriend Charles Porter, who clapped his hands together in delight when the judge struck out all the charges.
Mumba had originally told the court last July that she had been fully insured when she was stopped by the police on November 22 last year and that she did have a driving licence but did not have it on her.
She had originally wished for the case to proceed but the judge put it back to give her time to produce the relevant documents. She left the courtroom immediately after the verdict and drew admiring glances from many of the young men at the rear of the courtroom waiting to face charges on minor offences.
When asked outside if she wished to comment the outcome of the case, she replied: "Absolutely not."
She drove off with her boyfriend and female friend in her BMW which was parked nearby.
Mumba shot to prominence at the age of 17 when she was discovered by Louis Walsh, the pop guru who also brought Boyzone and Westlife to international fame. She released several hit singles and also began an acting career, starring in the recent Hollywood adaptation of HG Wells' The Time Machine, as well as the forthcoming film Eat The Peach.
The 22-year-old Irish singer, who is to appear in a forthcoming gangster film with Vinnie Jones, was stopped last November by Irish police on the M1 motorway in Santry in Dublin. She was charged on five counts with failing to produce a driving licence and insurance certificate and having no driving licence, insurance disc and motor tax disc.
At Dublin District Court, garda John Faherty said he had received proof that her driving licence was in order on the date in question and added that her car had since been back-taxed. Judge Anne Ryan struck out the four charges relating to the failure to have tax or a driving licence.
The charge of having no insurance was struck out at a previous hearing of the case last July when Mumba, from Gracepark Road, Drumcondra, in north Dublin, produced evidence of an insurance certificate.
Mumba, dressed in jeans, a brown cardigan, white shirt and knee high black boots, opted to represent herself but did not have to speak during her short time in the witness box. She was accompanied by a female friend and her boyfriend Charles Porter, who clapped his hands together in delight when the judge struck out all the charges.
Mumba had originally told the court last July that she had been fully insured when she was stopped by the police on November 22 last year and that she did have a driving licence but did not have it on her.
She had originally wished for the case to proceed but the judge put it back to give her time to produce the relevant documents. She left the courtroom immediately after the verdict and drew admiring glances from many of the young men at the rear of the courtroom waiting to face charges on minor offences.
When asked outside if she wished to comment the outcome of the case, she replied: "Absolutely not."
She drove off with her boyfriend and female friend in her BMW which was parked nearby.
Mumba shot to prominence at the age of 17 when she was discovered by Louis Walsh, the pop guru who also brought Boyzone and Westlife to international fame. She released several hit singles and also began an acting career, starring in the recent Hollywood adaptation of HG Wells' The Time Machine, as well as the forthcoming film Eat The Peach.