‘Scumbags’ who filmed themselves in dangerous carjacking incident jailed

Two “scumbags” who violently forced a woman out of her car, then filmed themselves driving it at high speed while “off their heads” on drink and drugs, have been handed prison sentences of eight years.

Judge Keenan Johnson suspended the final year of the sentence imposed on David Marshall (21), of Newtown Lawns, Mullingar, County Westmeath, who came before the court with 96 previous convictions, including road traffic offences, attempted robbery, robbery, assault and criminal damage.

Dylan Poynton (28), of Castle Grove, Castlepollard, County Westmeath, will return before the court in July, when a probation report will determine whether a year of his sentence will also be suspended. He came before the court with 24 previous convictions, including assault, dangerous driving, and a number of other driving offences.

Garda Conor Murphy told the court that gardaí had used CCTV footage to track the movements of the two men through Athlone on November 14, 2024, and the carjacking was “the culmination of a number of incidents” that had taken place.

Just a few days earlier, both men had appeared before a special sitting of Longford District Court, but were released on bail.

The offence took place on Thursday November 14, 2024, when the injured party was parking her grey Nissan Micra at the Fairgreen car park in Athlone, so she could get the train to Dublin for work at approximately 7.20am.

The car park was empty when she arrived and, as she parked up and took off her seatbelt, two males approached her, wearing balaclavas. One opened the passenger door and got in, ordering her to “get out”, while the other opened her door and grabbed her by the arm to drag her out.

The injured party started screaming, “help, help”, and “fire, fire”, as she was pulled out. She fell to the ground as the carjackers reversed the Micra, just missing her, before they drove away towards Dublin. The woman wasn’t physically injured, the court heard, but she was “very shocked and upset”.

Gda Murphy told the court that the garda control room received numerous reports that morning of a grey Nissan Micra going towards Dublin, with “numerous counts of people complaining about outrageous driving on the motorway”.

The car was spotted by gardaí in Lucan at 9.10am, driving at high speed. Gardaí followed the vehicle to Mount Andrew Close, where they observed it crashing into the boundary wall of a house, causing €2,500 worth of damage.

The two men exited the vehicle and fled into a nearby woodland area. Mr Marshall was discovered by gardaí hiding in the undergrowth. He was arrested and taken to Lucan Garda Station, before being released at 10.45am and re-arrested by Gda Murphy, who took him to Athlone Garda Station.

Mr Poynton evaded arrest until January 12, 2025, when gardaí observed him in the seating area of a filling station in Castlepollard. He tried to hide under a table when he saw gardaí approach, but was arrested.

In the Nissan Micra, gardaí discovered phones belonging to the two men and a number of videos were downloaded, allowing investigating members to positively identify the co-accused.

They had taken turns driving the vehicle, the court heard, and a number of videos played in court showed the pair shouting “we took your car”, “get out” and making fun of the situation. Other videos showed them drinking and celebrating their crime, and driving dangerously, while snapshots of the speedometer showed them to be travelling at speeds of 160kmh.

Mr Marshall, when questioned, told gardaí he was “really, really sorry”, and “I feel like a scumbag”. Mr Poynton, however, said that he was “sorry if it happened, but I don’t think I did it”.

Reading a victim impact statement in court, the injured party said she was at a financial loss of €6,510, between the loss of the car and medical expenses. She said she had to change her job as her employer could not accommodate her request for work hours that would allow her to avoid leaving her house in the dark.

She said she suffers from PTSD, flashbacks, intrusive and suicidal thoughts, anxiety and panic attacks. She couldn’t drive or leave her house for months and experienced depression and a loss of interest in her studies.

The two men had “shattered” one of her happiest moments, she said, as she had “just bought my first house and my first car all by myself”, through working two jobs. But the accused men “felt entitled to take that away from me”.

Stephen Byrne, BL, for Mr Marshall, began his mitigation by highlighting the contrast between the injured party and the accused men.

“When my client reflects and refers to himself as a ‘scumbag’, it’s hard for anybody to disagree with him,” he said, using Mr Marshall’s term again to say that “a dignified woman being preyed upon by two scumbags in a civilised society is terrifying”.

In mitigation, he said his client had entered a guilty plea at the earliest opportunity, out of concern for the injured party, to ensure court proceedings would go smoothly for her. He fully cooperated with gardaí.

Mr Marshall had lost his father at the age of nine, and started drinking at the age of 13. He is in a long term relationship and a father of two. He has been in custody since November and is “off the drink and drugs since”.

“I’m bitterly, bitterly disappointed to see him back here on such serious charges,” said Judge Johnson. “The time and the effort and I would say hundreds of thousands spent in Oberstown to rehabilitate him and set him on the right path and he just threw it back in my face.

“I gave clear instructions that if he came back before me again, he would serve a long time in jail, and that’s what’s going to happen.”

Ms Andrea Callan, BL, for Mr Poyntan, echoed her colleague’s remarks in terms of the injured party, and said her client wanted to sincerely apologise for what the woman has been through.

“It is accepted by everyone that he was significantly impaired by alcohol and drugs. They had no regard for the effect this would have on the injured party or anyone else, or even their own safety,” she said.

Her client had also offered up a guilty plea at the earliest opportunity, and a remand in custody has been helpful to him. He is the father of four children and Ms Callan requested that he be given the benefit of a probation report.

Judge Johnson said that this was the “worst case of dangerous driving I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been on the bench for 30 years”.

“It was absolutely scandalous. It’s an absolute miracle there wasn’t carnage. It was outrageous driving. In one instance they drove between two vehicles that were parallel to each other. It’s quite clear both were off their heads but that is no excuse,” he said.

Mr Cathal O’Braonáin, BL, for the state, told the judge that the offence carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years.

Judge Johnson noted the seriousness of the charges and the danger the two men had put others in and set a headline sentence of 10 years each. He mitigated those sentences down to eight years on foot of an early plea, garda cooperation and a number of other factors.

He imposed sentences of eight years on each of the men, suspending the final 12 months of Mr Marshall’s sentence for five years.

Mr Poynton is due to reappear on July 8 when, if a positive probation report is furnished, the final 12 months of his sentence will also be suspended.