‘confused’ | 

Finglas driver stole diesel after trying to fill car ‘from the driver’s window’

Karl Joyce (46) got hassled and confused on the day and could not explain his actions

Today at 07:05

A motorist who went to a garage and tried to fill his tank “from the driver’s window” before leaving without paying for the diesel was in a hurry to get his brother to the airport on time, a court heard.

Karl Joyce (46) got hassled and confused on the day and could not explain his actions which a judge said did not really “add up”.

Judge Treasa Kelly adjourned the case after Joyce paid for the stolen fuel and said she would leave him without a criminal conviction if he also made a €200 charity donation.

Joyce, a van driver with an address at Plunkett Avenue, Finglas, pleaded guilty to theft in the incident. Dublin District Court heard the accused drove in to the Circle K garage at Dublin Airport on February 20 this year to use the pump.

He spilled a quantity of fuel over the forecourt, left and returned in the same vehicle.

This time, he tried to fill the car from the driver’s window before getting out, a garda said. He filled the tank with diesel at a cost of €81 and left without paying.

Joyce had no previous convictions.

On the day, the accused’s brother was with him, he was in a hurry to get him to the airport, got confused and did not know why he did what he did, defence solicitor Murrough O’Rourke said.

“He got very confused,” the judge agreed.

“He was a bit hassled because his brother was late for the airport,” Mr O’Rourke said of his client. Joyce had the money in court to pay for the diesel, Mr O’Rourke said.

“I don’t know what you were thinking on that particular day,” Judge Kelly told Joyce.

“You were obviously very confused, it doesn’t really add up, what you were doing.”

After the compensation was handed over, the judge told the accused to pay another €200 as a charity donation to the Merchant’s Quay project.

Adjourning the case to June 5, she said she would dismiss the charge under the Probation Act if the donation is made. If the money is not paid, she said, the accused will be convicted and fined €300 in default.