A man who was recorded on Snapchat leaving the scene after he knocked down a cyclist while driving a stolen car has been jailed for three years.
Shane Murray (21) of Woodhazel Terrace, Ballymun, Dublin 11, also received an 18-month sentence for a robbery he had carried out the previous month. The sentences are to run concurrently.
Murray pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to unlawful use of a stolen car, failing to stop a vehicle knowing he had caused injury, dangerous driving and having no insurance on the Naul Road, Dublin on October 8th, 2022.
He also pleaded guilty to a robbery on Dame Street on September 28th, 2022. Murray has 32 previous convictions for drug offences, possession of knives, criminal damage and assault causing harm.
Detective Garda Cathal Connolly told Tessa White BL, prosecuting, that the video of Murray driving and striking the cyclist went viral after it was recorded on Snapchat.
The video was played to the court and Murray can be seen driving the vehicle. Following the obvious collision, one of the occupants in the car can be heard shouting “go, go, go”.
The detective confirmed that Murray drove on and made no attempt to stop the vehicle or check on the cyclist.
The cyclist, a Croatian national who was working as a courier with DHL at the time, was later treated for a broken ankle and leg. He had to undergo surgery as pins needed to be inserted to treat the fracture.
He later told gardaí that he was knocked off his bike onto the grass verge as he was cycling to work.
His friends later returned to the scene and recovered a broken red wing mirror which they passed onto gardaí.
Det Gda Connolly said the gardaí spotted Murray later that morning driving the damaged vehicle and indicated that he should pull over. When he was asked for his driver’s license, Murray drove off at speed before the vehicle was abandoned and the occupants fled on foot.
Murray was later identified as the driver of the vehicle. He was arrested and told officers he was “very much ashamed and embarrassed” by his actions.
A victim impact statement was prepared and handed into court but not read out.
Judge Orla Crowe said the fact that trouble had been taken to upload the footage of the collision with the cyclist was “particularly callous” and that Murray had also driven off and left the man on the side of the road injured.
Judge Crowe set a headline sentence of five years for the driving offences before she imposed a term of three years and six months.
The final six months were suspended. Murray was also disqualified from driving for four years.
She set a headline sentence of three years for the robbery before imposing an 18-month sentence. The sentences are to run concurrently.
Gda Connolly agreed with Philipp Rahn SC, defending, that the front seat passenger can be heard on the video shouting “go, go, go” following the impact with the cyclist.
He acknowledged that Murray had a difficult family background in that his father received a life sentence in prison before Murray turned one years old.
His close friend was also murdered in August 2022 and the suspect is currently on trial before the Central Criminal Court, Mr Rahn said. He said the death has had “a profound impact” on Murray.
Counsel submitted that his client was very young at the time and effectively homeless, sleeping on friends' coaches and in hostels.
Mr Rahn said his client had written a letter of apology to the court expressing his remorse.
He told the court that Murray struggled in school and left school in first year.
The court heard that Murray and a co-accused robbed a man on Dame Street in September 2022 after they stopped him and asked for the time. The victim took out his phone, and it was pulled out of his hand before he was attacked.
It was accepted that the co-accused was the main protagonist. The victim was punched and kicked, and his phone was never recovered.
