Man (28) charged in connection with hammer attack incident where dog was stolen

A 28-year-old man has been remanded in custody after he was charged in connection with an incident where a man was attacked with a hammer and his dog stolen while out walking in Cork city.

Michael Molloy of An Faill, Cul Ard, Carrigtwohill appeared before Cork District Court charged with the robbery of a dog from Denis McCarthy at Ballincollie Road, Ballyvolane, Cork on April 11^th.

Det Garda Brian Murphy of Watercourse Road Garda Station gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution and said Mr Molloy made no reply to the charge when it was put to him following caution.

He said gardai were objecting to bail due to the seriousness of the charge which is contrary to Section 14 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001.

He said that the offence of robbery carries a sentence of up to life imprisonment and gardai had strong evidence which they believed effectively meant that Mr Molloy was caught red-handed.

He said the state would allege that the injured party was out walking with his French Pit Bull, Rocco on the Ballincollie Road in Ballyvolane when a Ford Focus car pulled out and a man jumped.

He said the state would allege the man was armed with a lump hammer and he swung the hammer two or three times at the injured party before grabbing the dog and jumping into the back of the car.

He said the state would allege that the injured party got a partial registration number for the car as it drove off and they traced it to Mr Molloy who contacted them that night and he returned the dog.

He said the state would allege they later obtained CCTV footage of the car at the Exchange Business Park in Churchfield after the robbery on April 11^th which showed Mr Molloy getting out with the dog.

He said the state would also allege they obtained CCTV footage from Mr Molloy’s home which showed him getting out of a Ford Fiesta and taking the French Pit Bull from the back of the car.

He said the CCTV footage was of high quality and clearlyshowed Mr Molloy waiting until all members of the public had passed by before wrapping the dog in a blanket and taking it into his house.

Det Garda Murphy re-iterated that gardai took a very serious view of the offence which he said had a huge impact on the injured party for the several hours that his dog was missing from him.

“He described the dog as not being just his property but was like a child to him and the hours that he was without the dog, it was like his world had been stripped apart,” said Det Garda Murphy.

Cross-examined by defence solicitor, Shane Collins Daly, Det Garda Murphy rejected suggestions Molloy had assisted gardai with the investigation though he conceded he had returned the dog.

He said Mr Molloy was effectively caught red handed as he was clearly depicted on CCTV handling the dog and he said that when he was questioned about the animal, he refused to answer questions.

Mr Collins Daly put it to Det Garda Murphy that Mr Molloy was refusing to identify who stole the animal as there would be repercussions for him and his family if he told gardai who took the dog.

Mr Molloy took the witness box and said he was willing to reside at his home address, sign on daily at his local garda station and abide by any curfew or other requirements sought by gardai.

He denied when questioned by Sgt John Kelleher that he had no option but to return the dog after Mr McCarthy put out an appeal for information on social media that went viral on April 11th.

“I did assist in getting the dog back for the owner but I deny I was involved in the robbery,” said Mr Molloy who denied there was any dog visible in the CCTV from his house in Carrigtwohill.

He denied that the Ford Focus seen in the CCTV footage in Exchange Business Park was his car and said although it was registered to him, he had sold it earlier on April 11^th before the dog was stolen.

Asked by Judge Olann Kelleher why he had not transferred the ownership of the car to the new owner, he said it was still registered to him as the new owner was paying for it on a weekly basis.

Judge Kelleher said that having heard all the garda objections in the case, he did not believe it was a suitable case for bail and he remanded Mr Molloy in custody to appear again on April 27^th.

Mr Molloy was granted free legal aid after the court heard he had been working in construction up until the lockdown at Christmas and was now dependent on Pandemic Unemployment Payments.