Van stolen from Owenahincha was ‘tracked’ doing 151kph

A VAN stolen from a yard in Owenahincha on Monday nigh (June 8th)  – which hit a top speed of 151kph and travelled over 167km around West Cork  – was eventually found in Macroom, thanks to a unique tracking device fitted by a Cork start-up.

Luckily for Hayes Cabin and Caravan Services, they had in recent weeks signed a deal with Traxsit to fit tracking devices to several of their fixed and mobile assets, including the van.

Conor Walsh, co-owner of Traxsit said: ‘Though waking to the gut-wrenching feeling on Tuesday morning of discovering their valuable asset was gone, Eamon and David Hayes of Hayes Cabin and Caravan Services stayed calm. Eamon was quickly able to log into the Traxsit app on his phone, see exactly where the van was, and alert gardaí.

‘Gardaí then reacted swiftly to intercept the van and catch the thief in Macroom where he was arrested and the van was recovered.’

Van owner, Tossie Hayes, dad of Eamon and David, was delighted with the effective result from his recent investment with Traxsit and he made contact with both Conor Walsh and Luke O’Mahony of Traxsit to let them know of the successful outcome.

Conor added: ‘While we never want to see our clients having their assets stolen like this, it does highlight the effectiveness of our solutions and the pace at which assets can be recovered and criminals prosecuted.

‘We were able to see from the tracker data the exact route the thief took, travelling all over Cork and hitting incredible speeds at times. We can even see that they stopped 11 times in total – one of which was to buy diesel.’

Conor and Luke set up the company in 2019 and  recently won the Best Business Plan award on UCC’S Ignite Programme.

Gardaí have confirmed that they are investigating the theft of a vehicle from Rosscarbery on June 8th at approximately 10pm.

‘The vehicle was then intercepted in Macroom at approximately 7am on Tuesday June 9th. A man in his 30s was arrested and conveyed to Bantry Garda Station. He was charged with the unlawful taking of a vehicle and appeared before Skibbereen District Court that morning,’ said a garda spokesperson.