04-07-2025
Man was thinking about Grand Theft Auto game as bullet hit windscreen during Cork crime spree
The video game Grand Theft Auto was on the mind of a man on a crime spree that culminated in the ramming of garda cars with a seven-tonne rigid truck — and the escapade did not end until a garda fired a single shot through the windscreen.
It emerged today that the man had never been in trouble before this spree but had been a victim of a workplace assault when struck in the head with a six-kilo kettlebell and suffered a behaviour-altering head injury. He was diagnosed with post-concussive injury exacerbated by drug abuse.
'I think you have reduced culpability as a result of that head injury,' Judge Helen Boyle said. She imposed a total sentence of three-and-a-half years with the last six months suspended in the case against Istvan Konyari, aged 38, who had been living at an apartment at Shandon Street. He later told gardaí that the ramming felt like a scene from the video game Grand Theft Auto.
During a burglary in Owenahincha during his spree, the owner of the property came downstairs to see Konyari in her kitchen where he had made himself a cup of coffee and was eating crackers. He fled when he saw her.
The defendant, who was represented by Alison McCarthy barrister, apologised to all of those affected by his crime spree. He said said he was not doing well as a result of the injury he suffered and he regretted not taking help earlier. Instead of medical help and prescribed medication which he is now taking in prison, he was trying to self-medicate at the time of the offending in November 2023 with cannabis and cocaine.
Grand Theft Auto came to mind for the accused at the culmination of his offending. In that game, stars indicate when a dramatic scene is at its most potentially lethal. Mr Konyari believed that it was a case of maximum stars when the member of the Armed Response Unit fired the single shot through his windscreen shortly before 11am on November 8, 2023. He came out with his hands held high.
Detective Garda Peter Nolan gave evidence of the extremely dangerous and sometimes bizarre incidents that occurred in the escapade of crime carried out by the accused in a period of three days culminating in the car park of Dwyer's Electrical, Forge Hill, Cork.
The accused man confessed to carrying out three burglaries, stealing this truck and previously stealing a van which he used to stash the property he was stealing in various crimes.
On that Wednesday morning – November 8 2023 – he had alerted the suspicions of management at Kevin O'Leary's service station in Bandon where he was in and out of the premises without buying anything, until he eventually tried to steal two bags of coal.
He threw the coal back when confronted and drove off towards Cork city and struck and damaged a wall before leaving. Gardaí were alerted and various roadblocks were put in place but he kept diverting onto back roads until he ended up driving himself into a cul de sac at Dwyer's car park.
That was where he caused damage to three parked cars and deliberately rammed two garda cars. Sergeant Ian Scully was in one and Detective Sergeant Mick Lyons was in another. There were periods during the deliberate ramming when the officers were momentarily trapped in their vehicles. But the defendant persisted in his driving.
Det Garda Nolan said at Cork Circuit Criminal Court that officers from the Armed Support Unit arrived at the scene and one unnamed officer gave a warning to the defendant to stop driving immediately. Gardaí feared that due to the presence of members of the public on foot and in vehicles, and the refusal of Mr Konyari to stop, there was a real risk of death or serious injury. A single shot was fired through the windscreen of the truck and it was only then that there was an immediate end to the defendant's actions and he stepped out of the truck.
Ms McCarthy said the defendant was seriously injured in an assault in 2021. She sais he was carrying out burglaries while living in fear of becoming homeless and was stealing things in the hope that he could sell them.
Some items he stole during burglaries included butane gas cylinders, an antique clock, and toilet rolls. He went to the clothes washing machines at a garage and stole the contents of one which included a nurse's uniform and children's clothing. When the owner of these clothes approached him and threatened to report him he returned the clothing to her.
Judge Boyle said in summary: 'This involved a spree of offending all the way across West Cork, culminating in a serious incident at Forge Hill and you causing havoc along the way."
