Jail for man who crashed friend’s car

A 28-YEAR-OLD Monaghan man, currently serving a custodial sentence, has been given concurrent five-month prison terms for the unauthorised driving of a vehicle and for having no insurance — although the judge at Monaghan District Court remarked that the sentences were unlikely to affect his release date.

Daryll O’Leary with an address at a property in Woodview, Killygoan, Monaghan Town, pleaded guilty to taking a vehicle without authority and to driving uninsured and without a licence at Old Cross Square, Monaghan Town, on December 31, 2024.

Sergeant Lisa McEntee said Mr O’Leary had entered the vehicle without the owner’s permission before driving off and then crashing it. The 2004 Toyota Sienna had been written off, she confirmed.

Mr O’Leary himself told the court he wanted to plead guilty to all charges. He said the car’s owner, Sebastian Sitarz, was a friend of his and that they had been going down to the Border Shop off-licence on the Armagh Road for carry-outs. Unfortunately, he was the one who got behind the wheel this time. He explained that the crash happened when he hit the brake on the automatic car, thinking it was the clutch, as a result of which the vehicle had flipped over.

The sergeant said O’Leary had 112 previous convictions including one for assault causing harm in November 2023, as well as other counts for drunken driving, dangerous driving and having no insurance earlier in 2023. Many of the previous offences were related to driving and to public order breaches, and he was serving a 20-year driving ban.

It was also confirmed that he is currently serving a sentence for a separate offence (Mr O’Leary himself stated that December 18 was the earliest release date). He said he was working in the prison kitchen and taking counselling for his alcohol issues.

Commenting that the defendant is now dealing with matters the right way, Judge Raymond Finnegan imposed concurrent five-month prison sentences for the unauthorised taking of the vehicle and the no insurance offences, with the rest taken into consideration.

Remarking that none of this was likely to interfere with his current prison situation, the judge offered Mr O’Leary the best of luck in dealing with his issues.