Man accused of damage to bridge with cherry-picker tells Cork court: 'Four of us were very, very intoxicated'

The widely-shared videos of drunken men jumping around in the cage of cherry-picker being driven through Cork city centre on Sunday night saw two men appearing today at Cork District Court.

The Mary Elmes Bridge in Cork city was damaged with portion of it crashing into the River Lee when the cherry-picker — or mechanical scissor lift — was driven on to the pedestrian bridge causing some of the bridge floor to crash into the River Lee.

Garda Paul McCarthy said: “Concerningly, damage was caused to part of the bridge floor which fell into the river leaving a large hole on the bridge floor. Pedestrians were left at risk of falling directly into the river as a result of this damage and it had to sealed off for public safety.” 

31-year-old Kyle Boyle was accused of causing this criminal damage, as well as damaging a metal bollard at Oliver Plunkett Street and five counts of dangerous driving of this mechanical vehicle around the city.

Mr Boyle was called by his solicitor Eddie Burke to give evidence in his application for bail and he said: “Four of us were very, very intoxicated. I am very sorry. I want to put it behind and move on.” 

Mr Burke said it was not the driving that caused the damage to the bridge but the weight of the vehicle. 

Garda McCarthy said: “It is a pedestrian bridge.” 

Judge Mary Dorgan said she had not seen any of the online videos to which reference was made but commented that from the evidence it was a shocking catalogue of alleged dangerous driving on roads and more especially on pedestrian footpaths. 

The judge refused to grant him bail and remanded him in custody until November 11.

Patrick Costin, 18, was charged with two counts arising out of the matter. Garda McCarthy said of this defendant: “He was a willing and exuberant participant in this.” 

Solicitor Killian McCarthy said of Mr Costin: “He would have had no control over what happened in relation to the criminal damage. He also disputes cheering loudly in a celebratory manner.” 

Cross-examining, Sergeant John Kelleher said that one has to climb to quite a height to get into the cage of a scissor-lift so he may not have been that intoxicated. Mr Costin replied: “We were drinking on the scissor-lift.” 

The defendant admitted that they were cheering on Oliver Plunkett Street.

Judge Dorgan refused bail in his case also and remanded him in custody until November 11.

Garda McCarthy gave an outline of the allegations in the case in the objection to bail being granted to both accused.

He said that at 8.20pm on Sunday, November 2, gardaí responded to a report of a theft of scissor-lift that was about to be collected and removed from St Patrick’s Quay. He said keys were not in the ignition, but in one of the compartments of the cage so that it could be collected.

“It is alleged that on the quay and on roads and pedestrian footpaths along the centre of Cork City there was dangerous driving. 

"This incident occurred at a time when both road and pedestrian traffic in the city centre was busy and the incident was captured on mobile phone cameras and shared on social media by multiple witnesses at different parts of the route. 

"The scissor-lift was brought to a stop by gardaí on South Gate Bridge where arrests were made.

“Kyle Boyle was also seen to be in control of the vehicle and was intoxicated at the time of operating it … On Oliver Plunkett Street a number of vulnerable pedestrians were very nearby,” Garda McCarthy said.

Kyle Boyle, who is from Donegal, had only flown into Cork from the UK a short time before this. He said:

“I went on the beer for four or five days (in Cork).” 

Kyle Boyle was charged with unlawfully taking possession of a cherry-picker without consent of the owner, damaging a metal bollard on Oliver Plunkett Street, causing €1,000 structural damage to steel floor grates of Mary Elmes Bride and counts of dangerous driving at St Patrick’s Quay, Mary Elmes Bridge, Parnell Place, Winthrop Street and Oliver Plunkett Street.

Patrick Costin was charged with allowing himself to be carried in a stolen vehicle, namely the cherry-picker, and causing damage to the bollard at Oliver Plunkett Street.

The address for each defendant was given as Cork Simon Community.