'Devious' Corkman stole Mercedes car by sending fake WhatsApp message to seller

Accused had offered by buy car advertised on website and sent fraudulent WhatsApp message to seller showing €1,000 deposit into his account, court heard

Court heard WhatsApp message was fraudulent and had been created by accused but in reality no money had been deposited.

A man who stole a Mercedes by sending a fake WhatsApp message to the car’s seller has been sentenced to eight months in prison.

Clonakilty District Court heard Craig O’Connell, 23, of 12 Redbarn Cottages, Youghal, Co Cork, had offered to buy the car that was advertised for sale on the DoneDeal website. 

Giving evidence, Sergeant Paul Kelly told Judge James McNulty that  O’Connell had arranged to meet the owner of the car in Cork City on February 5, 2021. 

Prior to the meeting, O’Connell sent a WhatsApp message to the seller showing a €1,000 deposit into his account from O’Connell’s AIB account. 

Sgt Kelly said the message was fraudulent and had been created by  O’Connell but in reality no money had been deposited.

The court heard O’Connell had failed to appear in court on several previous occasions in relation to the charge and was present in Clonakilty after a bench warrant had been issued. 

The court heard O’Connell had 17 previous convictions for theft and motoring offences.

O’Connell’s solicitor, Conrad Murphy, said his client had been hospitalised twice in 2022 suffering from head injuries — in February as the result of a workplace incident and in July as the result of a road traffic accident. 

He said this may explain his previous failure to appear in court and he added Mr O’Connell also suffered from addiction issues. 

Mr Murphy asked that any custodial sentence be delayed until January as O’Connell’s partner was expecting their first child on December 1.

Judge McNulty said: “This is a smart boy who fraudulently induced a man to part with the car and it’s only by dint of good police work that the man got his car back. 

"The court takes a serious view of this sly, clever and devious behaviour. He has previous for theft and has a history of not turning up. He is only coming here on a bench warrant, he’s not reliable and he is only here today because he has run out of road.” 

O’Connell was sentenced to eight months in prison — to appeal a €500 cash surety was required and he was granted legal aid if he wished to appeal the sentence.