A MAN HAS been charged in relation to an incident where a man was robbed and assaulted in Cork city last Thursday.
At around 3.30am on 14 January, a man was walking in Bishopstown when he was punched in the back of the head.
Two men demanded he hand over his two mobile phones and he was struck a second time before the two men left the scene.
The injured man was brought to Cork University Hospital with non-life threatening injuries and was later discharged.
The incident was later reported to Detective Gardaí in Bishopstown and Gardaí began an investigation by gathering CCTV footage from the area.
On 16 January, Gardaí from the Serious Crime Units at Togher, Bishopstown and Douglas Garda Stations, with the assistance of the Armed Support Unit, carried out searches at two properties in Cork city but no arrests were made.
The injured party later told Gardaí that he had installed a ‘find my phone’ app, which Gardaí then used. The phone was traced to a property on Brian Boru Street where one of the stolen mobile phones and €6,300 of suspected cocaine were found by Gardaí.
The suspected drugs will now be sent to Forensic Science Ireland for analysis.
A man, aged in his late teens, was arrested at the scene and was brought to Togher Garda Station.
He was detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, and has since been charged was due to appear before Cork City District Court this morning at 10.30am.
Inquiries are ongoing in relation to the second man involved in this incident.
Speaking today, Crime Prevention Officer for the Cork City Division, Sergeant Brian McSweeney said “Mobile phones and tablets can be very expensive so it makes them targets for criminals. The use of the ‘find my phone’ app in this incident was the key to recovering the phone.
“It can be very hard to recover stolen and lost mobile phones. We recommend downloading a trusted location finder app so if it is lost or stolen, you have a better chance of getting it back. Some phones already have a feature like this already so have a look in the security settings on your phone.
“We also highly recommend that you add a family member or friend as an emergency contact in your phone. If we receive a lost or stolen phone, we will be able to contact that person. Other preventative measures you can take include enabling the PIN Security feature, keeping your phone locked at all times, and property-mark it with unique personal letters or numbers.”
An Garda Síochána said that if you believe your phone has been stolen, you should call Gardaí immediately – do not follow the person through your tracking app.
Instructional videos on how to download a ‘find my phone’ app and how to add an emergency contact onto your phone are available on the Garda website.
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