Bus thief arrived on crime

237km drive in stolen coach after being told no seats left

- BY STEPHEN MAGUIRE

A MAN stole a Bus Éireann vehicle and drove it 237km after being told another coach was full.

Derek Dunne, 24, admitted taking the vehicle in Letterkenny, Co Donegal, in July 2023 before he abandoned it in Sheriff Street in North Dublin

The thief, of Markievicz House in the capital, appeared before Judge John Aylmer for sentencing after the extraordinary incident during which he drove the €390,000 bus along the M1.

Letterkenny Circuit Court was told that the bus was not damaged and still had the key in the ignition.

Garda Pearse Glynn told how officers received a call from Bus Eireann reporting one of its coaches was missing from the Letterkenny Depot and later learned a bus had been found abandoned in Sheriff Street in Dublin.

Dunne was identified and he was arrested and interviewed on September 12 and made full admissions.

CCTV showed a male in a green hoodie arriving in Letterkenny at 10.35pm and was seen waiting until 11.06pm until the driver had left.