Videos of hotwired cars appear online in 'tribute' to Cork teen who died in stolen car 

Videos show people, some wearing hoods and gloves, travelling at up to 160kph, vehicles pulling handbrake turns. One clip shows a car being burned out

Emergency services at the scene of a fatal collision on the M8 motorway near Mitchelstown, Co. Cork, last Saturday.

Videos have been posted online showing teenagers hotwiring cars and driving them at speed in apparent “tributes” to a teenager who was killed while travelling in a stolen car in Cork last weekend.

The videos were published on TikTok and SnapChat on the same day as Johnny Foley, 16, was buried. He died last Saturday when the stolen Toyota Corolla in which he was a front seat passenger crashed head-on into another car.

Gardaí had two interactions with the stolen car, which failed to stop in the moments before the fatal collision and was reportedly clocked by gardaí travelling at 175kph on the old N8 near Kilbehenny early on Saturday morning, shortly before it was driven the wrong way onto the northbound lane of the M8.

Gardaí abandoned their pursuit as the stolen car headed south on the M8 against oncoming traffic.

Minutes later, it struck a Kia which was being driven by a 37-year-old woman from Glanmire. The incident has been referred to Gsoc.

Mr Foley died and the driver, a 17-year-old boy, a 16-year-old boy, a 19-year-old man and a 13-year-old girl, all sustained serious injuries.

Johnny Foley, 16, died last Saturday when the stolen Toyota Corolla in which he was a front seat passenger crashed head-on into another car.

During the funeral Mass for Mr Foley in the Church of the Assumption in Ballyphehane on Wednesday, his aunt, Mary, through parish priest Fr Gregory Howard, told the many young people there to “be careful".

“Accidents do happen. When you have that temptation or feel a buzz, try and reach an understanding that life could go so quickly. Don’t dabble in dangerous things. Life is too precious and you are too precious to lose your lovely lives," Fr Howard said.

But videos posted online later show young men using pliers, screwdrivers and hammers to hotwire cars. One was posted with the comment: "Ee gonna have it lit for you johnny just as you would have wanted".

The videos, which include clips shot by day and at night, show people, some wearing hoods and gloves, travelling at up to 160kph, vehicles pulling handbrake turns. One clip shows a car being burned out.

One woman told RedFM her car was stolen from outside her mother’s home in Grange while she was overseas spreading her father’s ashes. It was found abandoned at Douglas Golf Course on Maryborough Hill on Wednesday morning.

She said she found a video online within two hours of the teenager she believes took her car.

“It was up on that child’s SnapChat at 1.20am,” she said.

In a statement, gardaí said they are investigating all the circumstances surrounding the discovery of what is believed to be a stolen vehicle in the Maryborough Hill area of Douglas at about 6.30am on Wednesday.

They were unable to provide statistics on how many cars had been reported stolen in the Cork City Garda Division in the last 24 to 48 hours.

And in relation to the various social media posts, a Garda spokesman said: “An Garda Síochána does not comment on third-party social media content". 

Figures from last month’s meeting of the Cork City Joint Policing Committee show the rate of reported car theft in the Cork City Garda Division is down 18% this year compared to last year, from 155 to 127, but there has been a 73% increase in the number of reported incidents of interfering with a vehicle with intent to steal it, or an item, jumping from 77 in 2022 to 133.