Cork taxi crisis: 'I got a stiletto in the eye but have to keep driving'

The father of two wants the National Transport Authority to provide better support for taxi drivers who are assaulted while working, and he wants greater penalties for those who commit such assaults.

The 66-year-old has spent four decades in the job and has suffered a number of terrifying encounters with passengers that continue to haunt him. One particularly traumatic memory is of the night he had a broken bottle held to his neck by a passenger demanding cash

“He asked me for the time so I looked down for a second,” he explains. “The moment I looked up there was a broken bottle up to my neck.” The culprit received a six-month prison sentence for his crime. 

However, John says that he is the one serving time. “They [his attackers] have forgotten about it. The only time they’ll remember it is if it is highlighted on the news. There is no message I could give them to get across the damage they have done.

“If there were more severe penalties then it might deter people. However, it’s not his fault he got away with it. It’s the systems. There are other people out there who have gotten hurt. Many are afraid to speak up, so I speak for them too.”

Countless phone calls from his concerned wife now form part of a typical night for John.

“This has had a serious impact, not just on me, but also on my wife and kids. I can’t go out to work now without my wife ringing me. She’ll ask me casual questions like ‘how are you doing now?’ and ‘are you busy?’ 

In reality, I know she’s not phoning for a chat. She’s ringing to make sure I’m not in a ditch or hurt somewhere. 

"I have a son who lives in France and every week he rings me. He wants me to retire so I can move abroad and live with him.”

In 2015, John was assaulted by a group after one of them got sick in his minivan.

John discovered the vomit while dropping six men home after a night out from the Grand Parade. When he pointed to the vomit, he was assaulted. He sustained a black eye and a broken nose in the attack.

Stiletto attack

A blood-shot eye serves as a reminder of another occasion where the girlfriend of a passenger used her stiletto as a weapon. He recalls how the fare took a violent turn after the man refused to pay what was owed.

John admits he has not reported every single attack to gardaí. He described how one reveller punched him in the face in Cork City before fleeing the scene.

“I knew who he [the attacker] was and that there would be consequences if I reported him so I decided to let it go. A garda who was around at the time said they were shocked that I wasn’t reporting him but I felt it was the right thing to do.”

Despite the risks and the assaults, he insists there’s not enough work by day to make a decent living.

“There are people sitting in the rank all day. It’s when the buses stop that we earn the few bob. I have to stay working nights because I have bills to pay and a household to run. When I have jobs during the day, I operate on a phone system and collect people from their houses. This means they are traceable. However, when you’re picking people up from the streets there is no way of knowing who you have.”

He praised his family for their continued support.

“The assaults took away some of my self-confidence. That’s definitely the case. What kept me through the night shift was my family and absolute necessity. I don’t know how the lads who work by day make any money. I did days for a long time and the money just isn’t there. There could be two or three trains coming in and still no customers.”

John said taxi drivers who fall victim to assaults have little support.

“If a bus driver is injured on the job and out of work they get compensated. The taxi driver gets nothing. Even if taxi drivers were given something until their vehicles were sorted out it would go some way to helping them.”

He says he now has to be extra cautious every time he picks up a fare.

“Every time you pick up a group or even a single individual you are scanning them first. I do this as soon as they pull up. I try and suss them out in those few seconds because those few seconds are all I have.“

John says he never anticipated the way things would develop when he started out.

“It didn’t happen back then. I can still remember my first fare. The lady gave me a five-pound tip because it was my first job."

Dangers at night

Fellow Cork taxi driver Bobby Lynch said he no longer works nights due to the dangers they present.

“There are nights when you can’t pull up because there are people kicking your car and jumping on top of it,” Bobby said. “I’ve also had my taxi stolen.”

Billy Murphy, who runs a taxi in Cork City, also avoids night shifts due to the risks.

“I haven’t driven a taxi at nighttime in 30 years because I have too much sense and I value my safety,” he says. “People ask why we aren’t in Patrick Street at night? It’s because of these scumbags that taxi drivers are being forced out of the city.

“95% of people are perfect. The issue is that you don’t know if the 5% are sitting in the back of your taxi. In these situations, it’s hard to tell if they are going to take out a knife or a tip. Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t want the publicity if the assault is a minor one which means that many crimes go unreported.”

He urged the public to demonstrate more understanding.

“People are only looking at it from the point of view of the drunk guy on the street who wants to get home. If town is a perfect place you have to ask yourself why there are two or three bouncers at almost every pub door. They have a bouncer to throw you out of the bar and we are meant to pick you up.”

• This story is part of a special report on the Cork taxi crisis. The full report is available here.