Drink driver steals garda car in Dublin, drives to Armagh

iMax · 12-12-2011 10:10am

Would have thought Garda cars have GPS tracking as part of their standard equipment. Transmitters are only around €80 retail.

MagicMarker · 12-12-2011 10:11am

Says a lot when someone can steal a gardai car and drive it around for 2 hours without getting stopped again.

I mean ffs, is there no tracking on those things?

tuxy · 12-12-2011 10:14am

iMax wrote: »

Would have thought Garda cars have GPS tracking as part of their standard equipment. Transmitters are only around €80 retail.

What good would that do? They knew where the car was and setup a road block but he drove through it, got to the North and abandoned the car which they have found.

iMax · 12-12-2011 10:16am

They could track it in real time & have more than one roadblock if necessary. It's the Gardai, not the keystone cops (although sometimes you'd have to wonder...)

audidiesel · 12-12-2011 10:20am

MagicMarker wrote: »

I mean ffs, is there no tracking on those things?

Ha that's nearly as funny as the original story.

The state would never fork out money for gps trackers or sat navs for the guards.

05 1.4 focus, if tis anything like our one I'm amazed it was able to drive so far

tuxy · 12-12-2011 10:21am

iMax wrote: »

They could track it in real time & have more than one roadblock if necessary. It's the Gardai, not the keystone cops (although sometimes you'd have to wonder...)

They followed it with a helicopter, how much more tracking do you think is necessary. The Gardai ****ed up but tracking was not the problem.

markpb · 12-12-2011 10:21am

iMax wrote: »

Would have thought Garda cars have GPS tracking as part of their standard equipment. Transmitters are only around €80 retail.

€80 * thousands of Garda vehicles plus the backend infrastructure plus repairs and maintenance plus people to operate it is probably vastly more than the problems caused by the loss of a single car in a single incident.

Duggy747 · 12-12-2011 10:23am

I don't blame drink, I blame video games like Grand Theft Automatic and Mario The Hedgehog these kids play on their uPods 360.

antodeco · 12-12-2011 10:31am

xzanti wrote: »

antodeco wrote: »

What happens with cross border jurisdiction? If you get to the border and don't commit any crimes once passed, can the Garda/PSNIi actually do anything?

Free to shop til he drops.

So the north is our Mexico? Awesome

deadwood · 12-12-2011 10:32am

Very embarrassing alright.

I mean, c'mon, having to use a '05 Ford Focus as a patrol car?!

tuxy · 12-12-2011 10:39am

deadwood wrote: »

Very embarrassing alright.

I mean, c'mon, having to use a '05 Ford Focus as a patrol car?!

I saw this chasing a cyclist when I was in Edinburgh

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01380/SmartCarPolice_1380983c.jpg

PCPhoto · 12-12-2011 10:42am

antodeco wrote: »

What happens with cross border jurisdiction? If you get to the border and don't commit any crimes once passed, can the Garda/PSNI actually do anything?

they can if you are driving a stolen Garda car !!

OS119 · 12-12-2011 10:54am

PCPhoto wrote: »

they can if you are driving a stolen Garda car !!

yeah, because when you get to NI you're driving a stolen car, regardless of the juristiction of where you actually stole the car.

whats the score on getting him back over the border - did they just drive him down to the border, have a joke at the Garai's expense, and hoof him over the border to face justice - or does he have to be extradited in the normal sense?

presumably because he committed a crime in NI - drunk driving and driving a stolen vehicle - before he was arrested by PSNI, did the CPS in NI have to waive the charges so he could be returned to RoI?

hoodwinked · 12-12-2011 11:06am

What i don't understand is this:

The PSNI were today assisting the gardai in the hunt for the thief who is believed to live north of the border.

they have his Lexus! surely they can track the owner and its address

MagicSean · 12-12-2011 11:07am

OS119 wrote: »

yeah, because when you get to NI you're driving a stolen car, regardless of the juristiction of where you actually stole the car.

whats the score on getting him back over the border - did they just drive him down to the border, have a joke at the Garai's expense, and hoof him over the border to face justice - or does he have to be extradited in the normal sense?

presumably because he committed a crime in NI - drunk driving and driving a stolen vehicle - before he was arrested by PSNI, did the CPS in NI have to waive the charges so he could be returned to RoI?

He'd face charges in both jurisdictions. He'd probably be charged and bailed in NI and have a warrant issued for him in the Republic

MagicSean · 12-12-2011 11:08am

hoodwinked wrote: »

What i don't understand is this:

they have his Lexus! surely they can track the owner and its address

Many cars are registered to the wrong address.

Standard Toaster · 12-12-2011 11:13am

Cue the Benny Hill music.

Leftist · 12-12-2011 11:24am

Fair play to him.

antodeco · 12-12-2011 11:30am

So what we've learnt from today is, steal a Garda car, drive to the border, hop out of the car, walk across and "you cannah take our freedom"

Captain McDuck · 12-12-2011 11:33am

legend

MagicSean · 12-12-2011 11:37am

Leftist wrote: »

Fair play to him.

For stealing the car or drink driving at high speed on a motorway?

CrazyRabbit · 12-12-2011 11:40am

Shame he didn't drive into a staunchly loyalist estate.

Leftist · 12-12-2011 11:41am

MagicSean wrote: »

For stealing the car or drink driving at high speed on a motorway?

Yes. He was going to be in serious **** anyway for drink driving, robbing the car and baitin it up to the north sends out a message.

ALso probably had a great laugh doing it. GTA style.

MagicSean · 12-12-2011 11:43am

Leftist wrote: »

Yes. He was going to be in serious **** anyway for drink driving, robbing the car and baitin it up to the north sends out a message.

ALso probably had a great laugh doing it. GTA style.

Are you 16 years old or something? Would it have added to your excitement if he'd killed someone on the way?

Leftist · 12-12-2011 11:46am

MagicSean wrote: »

Are you 16 years old or something? Would it have added to your excitement if he'd killed someone on the way?

Of course not, that would have been a disaster.

Saw a driver at the weekend almost strike someone crossing the road because she was on the blower.

Seems to me she was more of a danger than this guy.

He will be a ledge where he's from.

Go down in folklore.

Nobody was hurt, move on. Can't moddy coddle society.

Paparazzo · 12-12-2011 11:48am

Duggy747 wrote: »

I don't blame drink, I blame video games like Grand Theft Automatic and Mario The Hedgehog these kids play on their uPods 360.

And that hooligan rap. The likes of 50 Pence and Snoopy Snoopy Dog.

MagicSean · 12-12-2011 11:48am

Leftist wrote: »

Of course not, that would have been a disaster.

Saw a driver at the weekend almost strike someone crossing the road because she was on the blower.

Seems to me she was more of a danger than this guy.

He will be a ledge where he's from.

Go down in folklore.

Nobody was hurt, move on. Can't moddy coddle society.

So it's ok to drink drive as long as you don't kill someone?

Leftist · 12-12-2011 11:50am

MagicSean wrote: »

So it's ok to drink drive as long as you don't kill someone?

Depends of course how good you are at it.

Some people drive better on drink/drugs. Motivates us to concentrate and take chances.

Gyalist · 12-12-2011 11:51am

On Drury Street in Dublin a few years back, I was watching from my office window as a Garda on a motorycle stopped three lads. After chatting with them for a minute or so he told them to stand facing a shop window and he began patting down the first one. He had parked the bike and turned off the engine but left the key in the ignition and the lad nearest to the bike grabbed the keys and took off like Usain Bolt down Stephen's Street heading in the direction of The Liberties.

The Garda response was impressive. Within about a minute it seemed that every guard in the Dublin descended on Drury Street - on foot, bicycle, motorcycle, and marked and unmarked cars! I presume that they eventually caught the guy who did the runner but I've always wondered if the motorcycle garda faced any action by his superiors for leaving the keys in the ignition.

Sgt. Bilko 09 · 12-12-2011 11:51am

A DRIVER stopped in Dublin on suspicion of drink driving, stole the garda car he had been placed in and drove it to south Armagh. The suspect was stopped in north Dublin at 9pm last night when he undertook his daring escapade.
The man, who was behind the wheel of a Lexus car, was stopped by two gardai in Lusk and failed a breath test.
He was placed in the back seat of a garda car while one officer drove his car to Balbriggan garda station.
He was transported to the station in the back of an 05 registered Ford Focus garda car, but when the officer got out of the car outside the station he managed to jump into the front seat and took off towards the M1.
Gardai scrambled an air support helicopter and set up a checkpoint at the toll booths outside Drogheda.
The driver crashed through the barriers and the thief continued his journey north in the Newry direction.
The PSNI became involved in the search for the man and the stolen car.
The vehicle was found overnight in South Armagh, some 60km from Balbriggan where the car was stolen.
A senior garda source admitted that the incident was very embarrassing for the gardai.
It is understood that Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan has ordered an immediate in inquiry into the incident.
The PSNI were today assisting the gardai in the hunt for the thief who is believed to live north of the border.

Drink driver steals garda car in Dublin, drives to Armagh

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