Pizza delivery car hijacker is jailed
By Sonya McClean
A man who hijacked a pizza delivery man’s car before crashing into three parked vehicles has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.
Kyle Foley, also known as Kyle O’Connor (25), of Claddagh Green, Ballyfermot, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to unlawful seizure of a vehicle, three charges of criminal damage, driving without insurance and driving without a license at Monksfield Heights, Clondalk-in on May 9, 2015.
He has previous convictions for theft, drugs, public order and trespass and is currently serving a four-month sentence for obstruction.
Garda Padraic Ryan told James Dwyer BL, prosecuting, that the delivery man was sitting in his car when Foley and two other men approached the vehicle and opened both the driver and passenger doors. One man stole his wallet and fled the scene with the second man.
Foley then hit the man on the leg with a bottle before he pulled him from the car and drove off in it at speed.
The car was found abandoned in Monksfield Heights, damaged along with a number of other cars that were parked nearby. A beer bottle left behind in the stolen car was later taken by gardai for DNA evidence.
Garda Ryan said a witness told gardai that he saw a man walk away from the car and pointed out the direction he had taken. Foley was found but he ran off while throwing a set of keys over the roof of a nearby house.
He was ultimately caught and arrested but was considered unfit for questioning for six hours.
Foley’s DNA was later found on the beer bottle and the car keys were discovered in a garden.
Garda Ryan said the victim has since left the jurisdiction and gardai have been unable to contact him. Luigi Rea BL, defending, said his client had taken both pills and alcohol on the night. He told Judge Martin Nolan that he has used his time in custody well and is now clean of drugs.
Judge Nolan said hijacking is a serious crime that involves violence. He noted that Foley had been found “lurking” in the area and his DNA connected him to the stolen car.
He sentenced him to two-and-a-half years in prison and disqualified him from driving for four years after accepting that Foley was “genuinely” trying to reform himself in prison.
