Dan O’Callahaghan, 33, was spotted near vehicles in a private parking lot on Park Road on September 8th.
The owner of one of the cars went outside to confront O’Callahaghan when he found him in the driver’s seat.
He was challenged and initially claimed it was his car before running away from the scene, but was followed and arrested by the victim at the nearby Stanley Recreation Ground before calling the police.
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O’Callahaghan was initially arrested and charged with disrupting a vehicle, but the charges were later changed to theft from a motor vehicle when he discovered a wallet had been stolen from the car.
Following his arrest, O’Callahaghan was recalled to prison by Elizabeth Court in Eastfield after serving a prison term for theft and possession of knives in public.
He released the defendant on Thursday (September 16) in Cambridge Magistrates’ Court, where he was sentenced to eight weeks in prison.