Dublin woman (54) rushed to hospital with head injury after church carjacking

Sources say that woman was locking the gate of a church in the Eccles Street area in the north innery city at around 9pm when two thugs saw an opportunity.

“This was an opportunistic crime and the unfortunate woman suffered a bad bang to the head in the course of this incident,” a source said.

The woman had left her Mitsubishi car running as she was closing the gate and the criminals got into her vehicle.

She attempted to stop the duo but ended up falling on the ground and hitting her head.

She was later treated for concussion in hospital after emergency services arrived at the scene.

Meanwhile her vehicle was driven at speed from the area and a garda alert was put in place for the vehicle.

It was later spotted by officers in the Inchicore area of Dublin's south inner city at around 10pm and it failed to stop when gardaí tried to intercept it.

Gardai confirmed that the car reversed into their vehicle when officers signalled for the car to stop. No injuries were sustained as a result of this collision.

A short pursuit began and sources said the car was being driven in a “highly erratic and dangerous fashion” before gardaí were able to catch up with it.

It is alleged that before being arrested one of the suspects produced a knife which has since been seized by officers.

The two men were detained overnight and are expected to appear in court later.

Sources say that both men are “well known to gardaí” and are suspected of carrying out similar crimes recently.

One of the suspects is a 30-year-old from the Crumlin area and has close links to a man caught with a firearm last year.

He has multiple previous convictions for violent crimes including the unlawful seizure of a car and has served significant jail time.

Gardai said in a statement: "At approximately 9:20pm on the evening of Monday, 13th June, 2022, a woman in her 50s briefly exited her vehicle to close a gate outside a premises on Eccles Street, Dublin 7, when two men accessed her car and fled the scene.

The injured party was knocked to the ground as the vehicle was taken and she was taken to the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.

Details of the stolen vehicle were circulated and at approximately 10:25pm, Gardaí from Kilmainham Garda Station on patrol observed the vehicle at Southern Cross Avenue, Inchicore.

The offending car reversed into an official Garda vehicle when Gardaí signalled for the car to stop. No injuries were sustained as a result of this collision.

Two men, aged in their 30s and 40s, were arrested at the scene and subsequently charged by Gardaí at Kevin Street with offences related to the incident involving the recovery of the stolen vehicle only."

The two men were due to appear before the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin this morning.

The statement added: "Gardaí in Mountjoy are following a definite line of enquiry in relation to the hijacking incident on Eccles Street and investigations are ongoing."