'Bizarre' Offaly incident where man took car keys in search for rapper 'Chingy'

A YOUNG man took car keys and mobile phones from the driver and passengers in a VW Golf and then demanded to be shown where a rapper called 'Chingy' lived, Tullamore Circuit Court heard.

Details of what was described as a “very bizarre” incident were outlined to Judge Keenan Johnson when he considered the sentence he was going to impose on Kristian Panganayi (22), with an address at Norbury Woods Green, Tullamore.

Mr Panganayi pleaded guilty to robbing Fionn Tierney on October 4, 2024 at Applegreen, Clara Road, Tullamore and unauthorised interference with a vehicle. Mr Panganayi was further convicted of assaulting Mr Tierney and possessing a knife.

Replying to Shane Geraghty, BL, prosecuting, Detective Sergeant David Harney outlined that Mr Tierney, driver of the Golf, and his friends, named as Mr Molloy, Mr Taylor, Mr Hughes and Mr Scully, were out for the evening in Tullamore having come from Clara to go to McDonald's.

They paid for the McDonald's and went to the Applegreen on the Clara Road to get diesel and Mr Panganayi, driver of a white Toyota jeep, pulled up at a pump.

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The accused man began to shout at a passenger in the back, Ryan Hughes, and Mr Panganayi started asking about “a local rapper from Athlone called Chingy”.

Mr Tierney did not know much about 'Chingy' and said Mr Panganayi looked “out of his head” and was shouting “random stuff” without making much sense.

Mr Panganayi said at one point “I'll wet you” which Detective Sergeant Harney said was a slang term for stabbing.

The accused man struck Mr Tierney on the side of the face and then ripped the keys out of the ignition and kept them.

He kept asking where 'Chingy' was without indicating why he wanted the rapper but appeared to be of the view some of the occupants knew him.

Detective Sergeant Harney said it appeared 'Chingy' was originally from the Tullamore area and the accused wanted to be brought to the rapper's homeplace.

Another man, Noah Lowry, also pulled up at the forecourt and Mr Panganayi went over to him after a knife fell into the footwell of Mr Tierney's car from the defendant's clothing.

Ultimately Mr Panganayi went off in his own vehicle with a person from Mr Tierney's car who was “under duress” to try and find 'Chingy' and they came back after 30 or 40 minutes.

The whole episode began at 10.42pm and CCTV footage from the forecourt was played in court.

Detective Sergeant Harney said the incident played out as described by Mr Tierney when he spoke to gardai.

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The accused took the other men's phones so they could not contact the gardai. Mr Tierney had never met the accused man in his life, the detective said.

When Mr Panganayi returned he gave the others their phones but the car keys were not recovered.

Detective Sergeant Harney described the incident as “very bizarre” and when the accused was arrested he denied wrongdoing and said he had not assaulted Mr Tierney in the car. but had “hit the headrest”.

He did plead guilty to the offences subsequently and at the sentencing hearing his defence counsel, David Nugent, BL, said Mr Panganayi had his struggles after coming to Ireland to live with his mother having previously living in Manchester.

Mr Nugent said a probation report indicated he accepted responsibility but his mental illness meant he had emotional dysregulation and poor consequential thinking.

Counsel said the accused was operating in the after effects of drug induced psychosis and struggled with that since 2022 but now had ambitions to become a truck driver.

Mr Nugent said the accused was a very fit young man who was actively looking for work. He was under the treatment of the Bannon Centre psychiatric service and knew his underlying condition needed to be managed.

The young man's mother told the court her son had been in hospital for six weeks and then went in again because the medication was not working.

Currently a mental health nurse was coming to the house every two weeks and the medication was working.

He did not feel safe outside, had thought everyone was out to get him and was not eating food at home. However he now was eating, socialising, going to church and was in good form.

Judge Johnson said it was clear to him the accused man was not well and the probation report clearly indicated his mental health issues were the primary driving force behind the offending.

He had worked as a healthcare assistant in England but it appeared his consumption of illicit substances caused a drug induced psychosis in 2022 and he was still trying to recover.

“This is another example of the damage illicit drugs do, especially in young people,” said the judge.

Judge Johnson said it had to be a frightening experience for the young men who were left high and dry on the forecourt with no phones and no car keys and had their night out in Tullamore “completely and utterly upended”.

The judge said Mr Panganayi must continue to engage with the probation service and stay off illicit drugs while taking his prescribed medication.

He commended the man's mother and said he would be confident he could turn his life around.

The offence of robbery carried a maximum sentence of up to life in prison but this offence was at the lowest end of the lower range.

“It was a very ham fisted type robbery and no one suffered any serious injury,” he remarked.

He indicated an 18-month sentence but adjourned all matters to November 17 next on condition Mr Panganayi entered a peace bond and continued under the supervision of the probation service.

If a positive report is available in November the Probation Act may be applied, said the judge.