Man who sold stolen car on DoneDeal gets three years jail
By Jessica Magee
A man who sold a stolen car on DoneDeal and later stole another car advertised on the classified ads site has been jailed for three years.
Noel Ryan (42) of Charleville Mall, Dublin pleaded guilty on the date of his scheduled trial to handling a stolen Toyota Land Cruiser and to deception at Woodie’s car park in Lucan on June 27, 2016.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court
He further admitted the unauthorized taking of a Ford Fiesta at Northside Shopping Centre, Coolock, on March 24, 2017.
Passing sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Monday, Judge John O’Connor said the victims had suffered very significant losses. He said a further aggravating factor was that Ryan had committed previous similar offences.
Judge O’Connor sentenced Ryan to four years in prison with the final year suspended, ordering him to comply with all directions from probation services in relation to treating his serious drug addiction.
Garda Seamus Wallace from the Garda Stolen Car Unit told Monika Leech BL, prosecuting, that he was contacted by the first victim who had spotted an ad on DoneDeal for a Toyota Landcruiser.
The man told gardai he rang the number and the person who answered said he wanted €12,500 for the car, but that if he got cash, he would take €12,000.
They met on arrangement at Woodie’s car park and agreed a price of €11,600 after the complainant went for a test drive and noticed a few marks on the car.
The buyer handed over the cash and Ryan left quickly without saying goodbye.
The victim said he posted the car’s log book to the VRT department in Shannon, who informed him that it was a false document and that the car had been recently stolen from Drogheda.
In a victim impact statement, the complainant said he had received the €11,600 from an accident claim after his mother had been killed in a road crash. He said it was very upsetting that this money had gone into criminal hands and had caused a huge financial strain on his family.
The man said he had lost a total of €12,400 and had not got a penny back.
Nine months later, the second complainant advertised his Ford Fiesta for sale on DoneDeal and arranged to meet a caller at Northside Shopping Centre.
Ryan arrived at the meeting and asked to go for a test drive. The victim was just about to open the passenger door and sit in beside Ryan when Ryan took off in the car. The complainant had left his driver’s license in the car and when Ryan was arrested on a different matter days later he was found in possession of the victim’s driving license. His own photo was superimposed on it.
Ryan had been on bail at the time of these offences. He has 16 previous convictions including aggravated burglary and robbery.
Garda Wallace agreed with counsel for Ryan that he was well-known to gardai because of his crack cocaine addiction.
He managed to desist from drugs and crime between 2000 and 2014, during which time he worked in construction and supported his family.
Ryan lost his job during the recession and relapsed into drug use but was currently making a determined effort in custody to return to drug-free, crime-free life.
