Men stole a bin lorry from Dundalk causing over €26k damage

Two men who stole a bin lorry causing over €26,000 worth of damage, tried to flee from gardai when they were intercepted outside Carlingford, Dundalk Circuit Court heard last Friday.

Steven McMahon (33) and Kyle Wood McGuinness (23) with addresses at the time at Garrybawn, Tom Bellew Avenue, Dundalk were before the court charged with burglary, criminal damage and unlawfully taking possession of the bin lorry from Oxigen, Coes Road, Dundalk on January 19th 2021.

The bin lorry was driven through the locked gates of the premises shortly before 3am and a bottle of rum had been left in another one at the scene.

CCTV from inside the bin lorry showed a young man who was wearing a face mask, which he removed from time to time but Judge Dara Hayes noted it seemed both had driven it at various stages of the journey.

Teenager stole alcohol from shop in Dundalk, court heard

When the bin lorry was located by gardai outside Carlingford both defendants ran off.

Steven McMahon was caught 300 metres away and Kyle Wood McGuinness was found in a nearby field.

The damage caused amounted to over €26,000 excluding VAT.  Kyle Wood McGuinness had €3,000 towards the loss while Steven McMahon had raised €5,000.

Kyle Wood McGuinness had no previous convictions at the time but has amassed some in the meantime, while his co-accused had 23, mostly road traffic offences

Judge Hayes said the crime was opportunistic rather than planned and it could have had a catastrophic outcome but thankfully it did not.

He imposed sentences of 21 months in each case and suspended them in their entirety for two years and on condition that they place themselves under the supervision of the Probation Service for 12 months.