Young Corkman jailed for stealing e-scooters and driving stolen van against flow of traffic

Luke Taylor was also disqualified from driving for a period of 10 years

The thefts of the four e-scooters happened in October 2023. File picture

A young man who stole e-scooters parked at various locations in Cork City on four occasions was jailed for 10 months.

Luke Taylor pleaded guilty to these crimes and also admitted driving a stolen Mercedes van. The crimes to which he admitted amounted to a total of 23 separate charges at Cork District Court.

In one of the most serious incidents involving Mr Taylor he was seen getting into the stolen van outside a shop where he had been shoplifting and driving against the flow of traffic in the shopping centre’s car park.

Sergeant Pat Lyons said the 26-year-old behaved in this way on November 6, 2023, at Wilton shopping centre. “Garda Ronan McGuckin responded to a call in relation to a man having fled from Lifestyle Sports at Wilton shopping centre.

“He took a large amount of clothing and footwear and he attempted to flee in the white Mercedes van driving contra-flow in the car park before he got on to the main road,” Sgt Lyons said.

Three days later, Garda Joe Crowley saw him approach the same stolen van in another part of Cork City. Garda Crowley testified at the initial bail hearing: “We announced ourselves and he dropped a key and fled.” 

Mr Taylor claimed at that court hearing that the only reason he ran was because gardaí threatened to shoot him. These claims were totally rejected, and in fact none of the gardaí present was armed. Now the defendant has pleaded guilty to the charges against him.

“We saw him walking towards the vehicle at Inchera Lawn (in Mahon). The lights of the vehicle flashed on. I believe he was going to get into the van… He ran when we identified ourselves,” Garda Crowley said.

Mr Taylor also denied the theft on November 6 of €590 worth of clothes from Lifestyle Sports at Wilton shopping centre when he was applying for bail last November. But now he has pleaded guilty to that charge too.

All of the other offences — including the thefts of e-scooters — were committed the previous month, in October 2023.

Eddie Burke, solicitor, said the accused entered his guilty pleas at the earliest opportunity.

The overall sentence imposed on Luke Taylor of Cherry Lawn, Blackrock, Cork, was one of 10 months and he was also disqualified from driving for a period of 10 years.