A Derry man has been jailed for five years for what a court described as ‘completely mindless thuggery’ after he admitted hijacking a woman’s car.
Joseph McMullan (29) of no fixed abode admitted a charge of hijacking the vehicle on May 20 last year as well as other driving offences.
Judge Philip Babington said that McMullan had 130 previous convictions with 77 of those for road traffic offences and was a disqualified driver at the time of this offence.
He described the victim as ‘a well-motivated person with a strong work ethic’ and said it took her ‘some considerable time’ to get over the incident.
The judge described the incident as ‘a completely unprovoked attack on a woman sitting in her own car’ and said the initial incident where he got into the car was ‘bad enough ‘ made worse by then chasing her and pulling her to the ground.
He sentenced NcMullan to five years in prison with half to be served in custody.
He also disqualified him from driving for five years and he must not own or drive any vehicle during his licence period.
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