'It’s dangerous out there': Cork taxi drivers want tougher sentences for attackers
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Taxi drivers in Cork have pleaded with judges to impose tougher sentences on people who attack them, as gardaí continue to investigate the latest vicious assault on a driver in the city.
A Spanish national in his 40s with Pakistani heritage suffered severe eye, nose and mouth injuries after he was dragged out of his car and beaten by a lone man on the Grand Parade at about 3.30am on Sunday.
It is understood he was attacked after he refused to take the man in his taxi. The driver had to be treated at Cork University Hospital.
Cork Taxi Council chairman Bobby Lynch said drivers were concerned that this latest attack comes just weeks after two separate court cases where men who beat taxi drivers in the city were handed suspended sentences.
Last month, a fully suspended 18-month jail term was imposed on a man who pleaded guilty to a charge of assault causing harm to a taxi driver on May 1, 2021, at Curraheen Road, Bishopstown.
Mark Beresford, 30, of Gortnataggart, Thurles, Co Tipperary, got out of the car, opened the driver’s door, and from a standing position outside the car punched the driver three times in the face, causing him facial injury from which he is still suffering the consequences three years later, Cork Circuit Criminal Court heard.
And in May, Cork Circuit Criminal Court heard how a drunken man who got into a row with a taxi driver about his route home in August 2021 assaulted the driver, and when the victim got out in fright, the passenger began to drive himself home.
A hijacking charge was brought against James McCarthy, 35, of 5 Barnavarra Crescent, Mayfield, Cork, who pleaded guilty to the offence. He received a two-year sentence, fully suspended.
Mr Lynch said in both cases, gardaí did their job but the men involved walked away with suspended sentences.
“Drivers are disgusted at these recent sentences. It’s dangerous out there for taxi drivers and bus drivers. We’re just trying to do a job, trying to get the public from a to b, but when people hear about cases like these, it puts people off going into the industry."
“And what are the National Transport Authority and our city councillors doing about this?”
Suleman Ahmed, who has been driving in Cork for about 20 years and who represents about 120 Asian drivers on the Cork Taxi Council, came to the aid of the driver injured in Sunday’s attack and said his friend was lucky not to lose an eye.
“He drove a taxi for several years in Spain and nothing like this ever happened there. This is his living. He might be afraid to go back driving, but he will go back to make a living,” he said.
“If the judges take action and imposed some punishment, it might deter people. If there is no punishment, this kind of thing will carry on.
“If we don’t follow the law, the NTA will fine us but when it comes to driver safety, there is no safety at all.”
Both Mr Lynch and Mr Ahmed also expressed disappointment none of the drivers who were on the Grand Parade rank on Sunday morning came to the assistance of their fellow driver who was being attacked.