Woman who smashed cars in early-hours Mayo incident is jailed for six months

A DUBLIN woman who travelled to Ballinrobe in the early hours of the morning and smashed the windows of two parked cars has been sentenced to six months in prison.

Carolyn Murray, Lettsfield Road, Clondalkin, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Castlebar District Court to two counts of criminal damage arising from an incident at Bog Road, Ballinrobe, on September 1, 2025.

Sergeant Fiona Farrell told the court that Murray was one of three co-accused who travelled from Dublin to Ballinrobe in a Volkswagen vehicle.

At approximately 2.23 a.m., she smashed the rear windscreen of a grey hatchback, causing €750 worth of damage, and then smashed the rear windscreen of a Ford Focus, causing a further €350 in damage.

She was disturbed by the injured party, and all three fled the scene. Murray was arrested at 5.50 a.m. and found to have petroleum fuel in her possession.

The remaining co-accused are to be before the courts at a later date.

Defence solicitor Gary Mulchrone told Judge Vincent Deane that Murray had been in the grips of heroin and crack cocaine addiction at the time and had struck the wrong car.

He said an owner of the vehicle had given chase to those involved, and two other women had fallen into a river during the incident.

Mr. Mulchrone told the court that Murray had no criminal convictions until the age of 35, but that her life had fallen apart after she witnessed the murder of her mother's partner.

She subsequently became addicted to heroin and crack cocaine and accumulated 55 previous convictions, mainly drug and theft offences.

Murray, aged 43, is currently serving a separate sentence at the Dóchas Centre and has been in custody since March 5.

Mr. Mulchrone said she was anxious to have the matter finalised, noting her daughter's upcoming Holy Communion and hopes of temporary release.

He said she fully accepted her actions were outrageous, but she is now on methadone, and is engaging with an addiction counsellor. She has four children and had previously been a law-abiding person.

No victim impact statement was forthcoming.

Judge Deane said the offences were very serious, involving what he described as an attempt to intimidate, which had resulted in innocent people having their property damaged.

He imposed a sentence of six months on each charge, to run concurrently, backdated to March 5.

* Funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme.