Student tells of anguish as she tracked her stolen car being driven all over Cork before being burned out

A STUDENT in Cork has urged owners of imported Japanese cars to invest in a steering lock or other anti-theft device after her own car was stolen and destroyed.

Vika Fleming discovered that her silver Toyota Vitz was missing when she woke up on Sunday.

Remembering that she had a Samsung Galaxy SmartTag in the glove box of the car, Ms Fleming was able to track the car’s movements.

“I was actually able to track it and it had gone through town out Ballinlough then down to Carrigaline then it came back into the city and the last place that it’s [the tag] known to have pinged off was on Patrick’s Quay, just behind the Metropole, at about 4am on Sunday morning,” she said, speaking to Joe Duffy on RTÉ’s Liveline.

Ms Fleming said she was later informed by Gardaí that the car was located up by Kilcully and was found to be completely burned out.

Speaking to members of the force, Ms Fleming said she was told that imported Japanese cars are a particular target for thieves as they are not typically fitted with immobilisers.

She thanked the Gardaí for their assistance, saying they were “so, so helpful” and said she would highly recommended owners of such vehicles to invest in a steering lock to deter thieves.

'I WORKED SO HARD AND NOW IT'S GONE'

Speaking to Joe Duffy on RTÉ’s Liveline earlier this week, she said: “Genuinely I didn’t ever think that it could have happened to me and it has. I worked so hard for the car and it’s gone now.” 

Ms Fleming said she purchased the car at the start of the year and had to take out a loan to do so.

“I had to take out a loan for it. I took out a loan because I didn’t have the disposable income at the time to straight up pay for a car, so I had to take out a loan. For three years I’ll be paying it off.

“I worked full time trying to pay it off, I now went back to do a master’s degree, so I’ve had to cut down on my hours in work. In work now all the money, it goes to the car and now it’s gone.” At a meeting last month of the Cork City Joint Policing Committee (JPC) Chief Superintendent Tom Myers said that theft/unauthorised taking of vehicles is an issue that’s causing Gardaí “a lot of concern in the city at the moment” with Japanese imports being a particular target for thieves.

Speaking at the meeting, crime prevention officer for Cork City Garda Division, Sergeant Brian McSweeney, registered owners with cars being targeted have been written to, advising them of how best to protect their vehicles.

He particularly encouraged car owners to invest in a “good quality steering lock”.

Gardaí, he said, are also monitoring “where the cars are being taken from and where they’re ending up”.

“We’re putting patrols in place – we’ve had some successes. We’ve also created, through the intelligence section, we have a list of suspects of people who are taking these cars and they’re being targeted and watched as well.

“It’s a problem in a number of divisions across the country, not many, but unfortunately, we are one.

“But we’re getting places,” he continued.