Meanwhile, in Cork: Car thief jumps over 4ft wall and falls 35-feet

A couple in their 20's were lucky not to be killed after a suspected car thief crashed into them head-on and then ran for it, but he ended up breaking his leg in the process.

The collision happened on the Skew Bridge at Tivoli, Cork, late yesterday evening, when an alleged car thief crashed into an innocent couple. The crook fled the scene and thought he’d get away by jumping over a four-foot wall. He could not have chosen a worse escape route.

On the other side of that small four-foot wall was a massive 35-foot drop onto the Middleton to Cork railway line. The man who is in his 40s and who is already known to the Gardaí (they always are), sustained a broken leg in the fall and lay beside the tracks until a medical team could reach him. He was probably kicking himself after the fall - with his good leg obviously.

According to Gardaí, the car had been stolen just minutes earlier, barely a mile away on MacCurtain Street and they were in the process of chasing the crook at the time.

The incident caused major delays to both road and rail services as Iarnród Éireann was forced to stopped trains travelling along the railway line for half an hour, allowing rescue services and Gardaí to get the alleged car thief out of harms way.

He was eventually winched up from the tracks back up onto the bridge. Thankfully the passengers of the victim car (a blue Honda Civic) were not seriously injured, however they were taken to hospital for examination, just in case.

Gardaí say a large number of drivers would have witnessed the alleged stolen Audi A3 being driven in the run-up to the crash and anyone with any information are urged to contact Mayfield Garda Station on 021 4558510.

Just remember kids, you can run, but you can’t fly.