Young men who exited vehicle before ramming incident which injured Garda granted bail

Olivia Kelleher

Two young men who allegedly exited a stolen car shortly before the driver rammed a garda patrol car injuring a Garda have been granted bail after they pledged to adhere to strict bail conditions.

Dean Heaphy (18) and Deon Stark (20) are both charged with the same offence.

The charge is that that on June 22nd at Glanmire Business Park in Co Cork that they did allow themselves to be carried in a car which was taken possession of without the consent of the owner.

Garda Niall McCarthy told a sitting of Cork District Court that he was objecting to bail being granted to the two young men arising out of the seriousness of the offence.

He told Judge Valerie Corcoran that on June 22nd, gardaí received information that a black Volvo XC90 car had been stolen in Douglas on the southside of Cork city,

The garda said that on off duty detective saw the car in the Glanmire Business Park in Cork yesterday afternoon. He noted that a number of young men were inside the vehicle.

Gardaí were called to the scene. When they arrived on site they found that a young man was in the driver seat with a second male in the front passenger seat.

Garda McCarrthy said that the driver reversed and hit a wall in the business park. He then drove at the parked patrol car “smashing in to it and causing the car to strike (named Garda) injuring her.”

The driver rammed a van and another garda vehicle before he and the front seat passenger managed to flee the scene.

Whilst at the scene the off duty detective Det David Hickey identified two young men who had allegedly exited the back seats of the stolen Volvo prior to the ramming incident.

Garda McCarthy said the men were Stark of Mount St Joseph’s Heights, Bakers Road, Cork, and Dean Heaphy of Churchfield Terrace East, Churchfield in the city.

In making his objection to bail the garda said that Stark and Heaphy had allegedly attempted to buy new number plates for the stolen vehicle at a nearby business.

He said that both young men were caught “red handed” at the scene.

Both young men were without legal representation in court arising out of the protest by solicitors over payments for criminal legal aid work.

The solicitors are protesting over the introduction of a flat fee per client regardless of the number of hearings involved in a case.

The Judge was informed that Stark was dyslexic. She said that it was difficult for him to read the paperwork which related to a “complex bail application.”

She told both young men that it would be “prudent” for them to delay their bail applications on “serious charges” for a week given the lack of legal representation. However, they both opted to apply for bail.

The Judge granted bail to the two young men. She ordered them to continue to reside at their respective home addresses, to sign on daily at Gurranabraher Garda Station, to be contactable on their mobile phones 24/7, to stay out of Glanmire and to have no contact with each other. The men also have to keep a daily curfew of 11pm to 7am.

The Judge indicated that gardaí could call to the homes of both men at any time. She said that if they were not home they would ultimately find themselves arrested and in prison.

Heaphy will be back before the court again on July 7th with Stark appearing a day earlier.

Both men were assisted by their mothers in making their respective bail applications