Hijack pair released after prison sentence handed down

Two people were handed prison sentences after being caught in Donegal in a car that was hijacked in Derry, but walked free just minutes later.

Seamus Donaghey and Bridget Mongan had been in custody in the Republic of Ireland since June 16.

They were allowed to walk free on Thursday after they appeared before Letterkenny District Court, where Judge Ciaran Liddy sentenced the pair to two months. With the appropriate credit given for time served and the sentences back-dated, the duo were free to go after collecting their belongings.

Donaghey, a 31-year-old whose address was given as no fixed abode, and Mongan, aged 33 and of Foyle Road, Derry, were arrested on the N13 road at Raymoghey, Manorcunningham on June 16 at a checkpoint set up as part of a large policing operation around the Donegal International Rally.

Donaghey was charged with unlawfully using a vehicle without the consent of the owner.

Mongan was charged with, while being a person who knew that the vehicle as taken without the consent of the owner, did allow herself to be carried in the vehicle without consent.

Sergeant Gerard Dalton said the PSNI had received a report of the unlawful taking of a vehicle, a black Ford Focus, from Abercorn Road on June 16. At 11.09pm on the same date, the vehicle was observed at Raymoghey. Gardai arrested both Donaghey and Mongan, both of whom have no previous convictions.

At a previous court sitting it was alleged that a call was made to a takeaway delivery person in Derry. When the person came to the appointed address to deliver the food, they arrived at a derelict address.

The vehicle was 'forcibly' seized from the driver, a special sitting of Letterkenny District Court heard in June.  Since then, Donaghey has been in custody at Castlerea Prison while Mongan has been held in custody at the Dóchas Centre at Mountjoy Prison.

Solicitor Mr Patsy Gallagher, representing both defendants, said that the pair intended to come to Letterkenny on the night in question, but wouldn’t have got that far.

“This was rally weekend and there were another three checkpoints between Manor and Letterkenny,” Mr Gallagher said.

He said the car was parked with the keys in the ignition and no damage was caused. Mr Gallagher said Donaghey has had ‘a lot of difficulty in the past’ with drug and alcohol addiction.

“He is aware of what awaits him in Derry and contact has been made,” Mr Gallagher said, adding that he expected his client to present voluntarily to the PSNI.

Mr Gallagher told the court that Mongan has had a ‘difficult background’. “She has been in the car of various departments given her difficulties since her early-mid teens,” he said. “For whatever reason, she thought it was a good idea to go to Letterkenny with the other part. She was actually unaware about the car, but a reasonable person would have been aware that he couldn’t have afforded the car they were in.”

Judge Liddy said that the case would have caused considerable expense to the State if it had been contested.

“This endeavour was doomed to fail, given the occasion that was taken place,” namely the rally.

He sentenced each of the accused to two months imprisonment with credit given for time served. Both Donaghey and Mongan were subsequently freed from custody by the Prison Service escorts.