Man who hijacked cars under pretext of test driving them jailed for 27 months

By Isabel Hayes

A hairdresser who hijacked and took cars under the pretext of bringing them for a test drive has been jailed for 27 months and disqualified from driving for four years.

Stephen Corbally (28) with an address before the court at the Peter McVerry Trust, Camden Street Lower, Dublin 2, pleaded guilty to one count of hijacking, one count of taking a vehicle, one count of dangerous driving and one count of deception at various addresses in west Dublin on dates in April 2023.

Detective Garda Sean Kelly told Shaun Smyth BL, prosecuting, that on April 5, Corbally visited a man in Blanchardstown who had advertised his 2008 Volvo car for sale on Facebook Marketplace. The man agreed to let Corbally test drive the car, whereupon Corbally got in and drove off.

A couple of weeks later on April 20, Corbally met another man selling a car – this time a 2012 Renault in Mulhuddart, which had been advertised on Done Deal.

On this occasion, the car seller accompanied Corbally on the test drive, but was uneasy as to why Corbally had a Tesco bag on his lap the entire time he was driving the car, the court heard.

When Corbally parked the car, the car seller got out and came around to the driver seat side, before Corbally produced a kitchen knife from the bag and pointed it at the man. Corbally then took off in the car, driving dangerously across a grass area to flee the scene.

The following day on April 21, Corbally got in touch with a man in Carpenterstown who was selling an Audi on Facebook Marketplace. Corbally offered to swap the Renault car with him in exchange for an additional €200. He claimed the stolen car belonged to his late mother.

When the car seller went to sell the Renault on Facebook, he was contacted by gardaí and informed it had been stolen. Meanwhile, Corbally was caught driving the Audi by a garda who happened to see him by coincidence, the court heard. He has been in custody since his arrest in April 2023.

At the time of these offences, Corbally did not have a driver’s licence and had been disqualified from driving for a period of 12 years, the court heard.

Aisling Ginger-Quinn BL, defending, said her client had not engaged in a sophisticated operation. The court heard he used his own name and phone details in conversation with his victims.

The court heard he had a difficult early childhood, involving a period of homelessness. His mother was murdered in 2017. Corbally trained and worked as a hairdresser, but following his mother’s death, he became addicted to cocaine and sleeping tablets. He struggled with mental health issues, defence counsel said. He has a number of previous convictions.

Sentencing him on Monday, Judge Martin Nolan noted Corbally had been “unlucky in life”. He handed down a sentence of 27 months and backdated it to when Corbally went into custody last year.