Man jailed for stealing and crashing €80,000 Toyota Land Cruiser in Greystones, Co Wicklow
On 9 February 2024, Alan Melia, 31, of Ballyfermot, Dublin, stole a brand new €80,000 Toyota Land Cruiser from a driveway at Blacklion, Greystones, Co Wicklow, crashed it into a garden wall with his girlfriend Jade Burns, 21, of Celbridge, Co Kildare, in the passenger seat, and then attempted to hijack a Mercedes-Benz. The owner, his wife, and another male tried to stop Melia, and the other male was struck by an open passenger door as Melia reversed out of the driveway. Melia, who was on bail and had 112 previous convictions, pleaded guilty to unauthorised taking of a vehicle, criminal damage, and attempted hijack, while Burns pleaded guilty to trespass and allowing herself to be carried in a stolen vehicle. At Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court on 1 August 2025, Melia was sentenced to five and a half years (concurrent terms of 6.5 years, four years, and four years, with the final 12 months suspended) and Burns received fully suspended sentences of 18 months and six months.
- Reportednot reported
- Arrestednot reported
- Chargednot reported
- In courtnot reported
- Verdictnot reported
- Sentenced1 Aug
Key facts
consolidated from all reports- What happened
- Melia stole a brand new €80,000 Toyota Land Cruiser, crashed it into a garden wall, and attempted to hijack a Mercedes-Benz.
- The owner, his wife, and another male tried to stop Melia, and the other male was struck by an open passenger door as Melia reversed out of the driveway.
- The Mercedes-Benz driver got out of the car with the keys and told Gardaí that Melia sounded incoherent and under the influence of something.
- Where
- The incident took place at a house on Blacklion, Greystones, Co Wicklow.
- When
- The incident occurred at around 7.30pm on 9 February 2024.
- Charges
- Melia pleaded guilty to unauthorised taking of a vehicle, criminal damage to the value of €80,000, and attempted hijack; Burns pleaded guilty to trespass and allowing herself to be carried in a stolen vehicle.
- In court
- Both were sentenced at Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court on 1 August 2025.
- Sentence
- Melia received concurrent terms of 6.5 years for criminal damage, four years for theft, and four years for attempted hijack, with the final 12 months suspended, totalling five and a half years; Burns received fully suspended sentences of 18 months and six months.
- Other details
- Melia was on bail at the time, had 112 previous convictions, and was already serving a 6.5-year sentence for ramming Garda vehicles on the M1 after robbing a petrol station in Northern Ireland in August 2020.
- Burns had no previous convictions, did not identify Melia to Gardaí, and could not remember the incident.
- Melia was brought up in foster care and turned to drug abuse after the age of 18.
20 statements extracted from the articles
- whatMelia pleaded guilty to unauthorised taking of a vehicle and causing criminal damage to the value of €80,000 (irishmirror.ie)
- whatMelia also pleaded guilty to attempting to hijack another vehicle on the same date (irishmirror.ie)
- whatJade Burns pleaded guilty to trespass and allowing herself to be carried in a stolen vehicle (irishmirror.ie)
- whatMelia crashed the vehicle into a garden wall with Burns in the passenger seat (irishmirror.ie)
- whatThe owner, his wife and another male had attempted to stop him driving away (irishmirror.ie)
- whatThe other male was struck by an open passenger door as Melia reversed out of the driveway (irishmirror.ie)
- whatThe driver of the Mercedes-Benz managed to get out of the car with the keys (irishmirror.ie)
- whatThe driver told Gardaí that Melia sounded incoherent and under the influence of something (irishmirror.ie)
- whereMelia took a brand new Toyota Land Cruiser from the driveway of a house at Blacklion, Greystones, Co Wicklow (irishmirror.ie)
- whenThe incident occurred at around 7.30pm on 9 February 2024 (irishmirror.ie)
- sentenceMelia was sentenced to six and a half years for criminal damage, four years for stealing, and four years for attempted hijack, all to run concurrently (irishmirror.ie)
- otherMelia was on bail at the time of the incident (irishmirror.ie)
- otherMelia had 112 previous convictions (irishmirror.ie)
- otherMelia is already serving a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence for ramming Garda vehicles on the M1 after robbing a petrol station in Northern Ireland on 23 August 2020 (irishmirror.ie)
- otherBurns had no previous convictions (irishmirror.ie)
- otherBurns did not identify Melia to Gardaí and could not remember the incident (irishmirror.ie)
- otherThe owner of the Toyota Land Cruiser said his child still had nightmares about the incident (irishmirror.ie)
- otherThe owner was out of work for weeks and his motor insurance costs had increased (irishmirror.ie)
- otherMelia had been brought up in foster care and turned to drug abuse after 18 (irishmirror.ie)
- otherBurns was assessed as being at a moderate risk of reoffending due to being unemployed (irishmirror.ie)
The reporting
newest first- 1 Aug2025Man who stole and crashed €80k car to get home after day out with partner jailed
Sentencing at Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court: Melia jailed for five and a half years (concurrent terms of 6.5 years for criminal damage, 4 years for theft, 4 years for attempted hijack, with final 12 months suspended); Burns given fully suspended sentences of 18 months and 6 months.
convicted, Alan Melia, 31, male, named, irish (judged from name)Alan Meliaconvicted, Jade Burns, 21, female, named, irish (judged from name)Jade Burns