Young man accused of stealing Porsche later crashed in Dublin

Tom Tuite

A 21-year-old man allegedly “dragged” the owner of a Porsche 911 from his car in south Dublin before it was driven erratically around the city and crashed, a court heard.

Cillian Rafferty, of Easton Row, Leixlip, Co Kildare, was arrested on Tuesday night after being found in a crashed 2010-reg Porsche which was taken in a suspected carjacking at Northbrook Avenue, Ranelagh, Dublin 6.

The €60,000 Porsche lost a wheel in the city centre, hit other cars and suffered extensive damage before coming to a halt in Palmerstown.

Mr Rafferty was charged with robbery and motor theft and faced bail objections when he appeared before Judge Ciaran Liddy at Dublin District Court on Wednesday.

Defence solicitor Donal Quigley told the court Mr Rafferty denies the charges.

Garda Patrick Spollen alleged the owner of the car was sitting in the vehicle outside his home at 8pm and was approached by a man shouting: “Get out of the f**king car.”

The owner (42) told gardaí the man “motioned with his fist”, which left him frightened and “in fear for his life”.

According to the owner, he was “dragged from the vehicle” before it was driven into the city centre.

Members of the public dialled 999 to report the dangerous driving the car’s “tyre had become disconnected following a collision” at Merchant's Quay, the court heard.

The Porsche proceeded to the N4 and crashed in Palmerstown.

Write-off

Garda Spollen said it had significant damage and “may well be written off”.

Additional charges could be brought because the stolen car hit several vehicles, the court was told. Garda Spollen said it was “distinctive” and lost a wheel in the city centre.

Judge Liddy heard the accused was still in the car when gardaí arrived, but under cross-examination, the officer agreed that Mr Rafferty was in the passenger seat.

He accepted that no one had identified the defendant as the driver when the car was in the city centre. However, he added CCTV evidence has yet to be obtained.

Mr Quigley said the complainant, who gave a description to gardaí in his statement, was not in court to be cross-examined, and his client could be deprived of his liberty purely on hearsay evidence.

He said the car was clearly taken, but Mr Rafferty maintained he was a passenger in the car and had been “terrified”.

“We say someone else was driving,” the solicitor submitted.

Judge Liddy noted that the incident began at 8pm, and the car went through the city centre and stopped 22 minutes later.

He declined Mr Rafferty’s bail application and remanded him in custody to appear at Cloverhill District Court on August 16th.

The judge noted the accused was unemployed and granted legal aid.