Man used golf club to smash wing mirrors of cars parked on street in Louth
A man walked down a residential street smashing car wing mirrors with a golf club, the district court has heard.
The culprit, Daniel Reid (28) has been jailed for a total of nine months after he admitted charges stemming from that incident and others throughout Dundalk.
Mr Reid, of Langfield, Dublin Road, Dundalk, appeared via video link when he pleaded guilty to 27 charges and three summonses.
It was stated on behalf of the defendant, who has 131 previous convictions, that his offending was to feed a drug addiction.
He was “no criminal mastermind” and generally caught at the scene, his solicitor pointed out.
He stole e-scooters and bikes as well as pedal cycles, committed shoplifting and interfered with parked cars, while on one occasion assaulted a security guard who had detained him. On nearly all occasions he was identified from CCTV.
It was on July 10, 2025, that the defendant broke a wing mirror off three cars parked in Vincent Avenue, causing a total of €600 damage.
Court presenter Sgt Richie Browne said that on October 25, 2023, a woman awoke to discover a rear passenger window smashed in her car parked outside her house in Muirhevna, Dublin Road.
In an attempt to hotwire the vehicle the ignition had been damaged.
DNA from a can of cider left in the footwell proved a match with Mr Reid.
He took a €700 e-bike from outside Dunnes Stores, Ard Easmuinn; another, valued €600, at Tesco Extra, Stapleton Drive; and a €1,500 pedal cycle in Anne Street; on different dates in 2025. They had all been locked.
Evidence was given that on returning from holidays, a resident of Mourne View Hall discovered their €350 e-scooter missing from the hallway.
CCTV footage from 3 days earlier, August 23, 2025, showed the defendant loitering in the area before riding an e-scooter along a corridor and exiting the building.
On the following October 23, he twice went behind the bar in The Lisdoo, Newry Road, swiping a bottle of gin the first time and €600 from a tip jar the next.
Earlier in 2025 he took a €200 tool box from a van on the Dublin Road.
The court was told of shoplifting offences at SuperValu, Fairways; Dunnes Stores, Ard Easmuinn; Woodies DIY, Dundalk Retail Park; and Tesco, Longwalk Shopping Centre.
On July 8, 2024, at Tesco Extra, he was in a “highly intoxicated” state when detained in the carpark by security staff, one of whom sustained a small cut to the back of his head and another to a hand.
Twelve months later, at the same premises, Mr Reid shouted at Gardaí, “F**k you, c**ts”, as he attempted to intervene in another person’s arrest.
He missed Gardaí when throwing a bottle of vodka at them, but struck the patrol car.
The defendant had earlier stolen the vodka and a bottle of whiskey when he also kicked several boxes of cereal.
Solicitor Fergal Boyle said that his client was serving a three-month sentence imposed in Cloverhill District Court on March 18 last.
There was no point trying to excuse this behaviour. It was unacceptable. He wished to apologise.
They were “nuisance offences” with injured parties. Mr Reid was robbing to feed an addiction to “street tabs” essentially. He was a “nuisance” and a “pest”.
When released from custody there were no structures in place for him. The Probation Service had tried to help.
It was the defendant’s intention to get treatment, Mr Boyle continued. There were huge waiting lists in prison for drugs counsellors.
Judge Stephanie Coggans remarked that she couldn’t accept the defence’s characterisation (of the offending).
She said the bikes were expensive to buy, adding that the lady must have got a fright when discovering her car had been broken into.
Sgt Browne noted that some of these charges triggered a suspended sentence imposed by Blanchardstown District Court.
Daniel Reid was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment, the final month suspended, and backdated to when he went into custody on February 12 last.
He is to be produced in court on April 8 to sign a bond.