Mobile beauty therapist caught driving Mercedes at 192kph in Laois

A beauty therapist who mistook miles for kilometres admitted driving a Mercedes at 192 kph in Laois. 

Chelsea Casey (27) of 7 Sarsfield Court, St Johns, Garryowen, Limerick, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving on the M7 at Meelick in Laois on August 3, 2025. 

Garda Sergeant JJ Kirby said the defendant was detected driving at 192ph in a 120kph zone at 11.35am. He told a sitting of Portlaoise District Court that the woman, who was driving a silver Mercedes, had never come to Garda attention before. 

David Nugent BL said his client had bought the car a few weeks before the incident. “The car had miles per hour instead of kilometres,” he explained. 

“She thought she was doing 120 kilometres per hour, not 120 miles,” said Mr Nugent. 

He said his client was a “self employed beauty therapist” and she is very apologetic. He described the offending as “foolishness” and stated that she hadn’t come to Garda attention before. “It was because the clocks were in Mph not Kph,” he said.

Mr Nugent said his client had the speedometer changed to kilometres and has been “quite upfront” about the offence. 

Judge Susan Fay said she would accept what the woman was saying. 

Mr Nugent said his client worked for herself as a mobile beauty therapist and would be a candidate for social welfare if she is disqualified. 

Judge Fay fined the woman €250, disqualified her from driving for two years and granted legal aid in the case.