Man crashed stolen car into recovery lorry lifting car he stole earlier

A 23 year-old man crashed a stolen car into a recovery lorry which was removing another car he had stolen just an hour previously, a Derry court has heard.

David Connors appeared at Derry Crown Court where he was sentenced to two years in prison for 19 separate offences arising out of an incident on May 6 last year, including three counts of burglary, car theft, drink driving and assaulting police.

The court heard that Connors – who has 62 previous convictions – had been involved in ‘all day drinking binge’ after which he decided to break into a house in order to steal a car and drive home.

At around 4.30am, the defendant, who the court heard was of ‘extremely limited intelligence’ and had an IQ of 70,broke into a house at Rosemount Gardens where he stole two bank cards, £15 cash and car keys for a Vauxhall Astra.

Connors had gained access to the property after removing a security lock fitted to a window above the kitchen sink.

The defendant, originally from West Belfast but whose address was given as Maghaberry prison, then crashed the Astra into the rear of a Mitsubishi Shogun jeep which was parked outside a house on Creggan Road.

He then abandoned the vehicle and fled the scene, after which police arrived and a flatbed recovery lorry was called out.

However, Connors had gone to the nearby Helen Street where he broke into another house through a utility room window where he took a set of car keys.

He also broke into a garage at the property, stealing a case of Carlsberg and Guinness, before driving off in Volkswagen Passat he had just stolen.

At that stage, which was around 5.30am, the PSNI were overseeing the loading of the stolen Vauxhall Astra onto the recovery lorry on Creggan Road when Connors drove at them in the stolen Passat.

Eyewitnesses said that police officer was forced to jump out of the way to avoid being mown down by Connors, who then crashed the Passat into the back of the recovery lorry.