Man was thinking about Grand Theft Auto game as bullet hit windscreen during Cork crime spree

The judge imposed a sentence of three-and-a-half years with the last six months suspended

It emerged in court the man had been a victim of a workplace assault and suffered a behaviour-altering head injury.

The video game Grand Theft Auto was on the mind of a man on a crime spree that culminated in the ramming of garda cars with a seven-tonne rigid truck — and the escapade did not end until a garda fired a single shot through the windscreen.

It emerged today that the man had never been in trouble before this spree but had been a victim of a workplace assault when struck in the head with a six-kilo kettlebell and suffered a behaviour-altering head injury. He was diagnosed with post-concussive injury exacerbated by drug abuse.