This article is from page 4 of the 2012-05-22 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
THE Irish Taxi Driver’s Federation has insisted that Ennis taxis remain one of the safest modes of transport available.
The national body issued the reassurance after an Ennis driver was given a two year suspended sentence at Limerick Circuit Court for assaulting a passenger.
Martin White, who is the Clare representative for the federation and has 30 years experience driving in Clare, said he had never heard of a taxi driver attacking a passenger before this incident.
“The number one priority for a taxi driver is the safety and well being of the passengers,” he told The Clare People .
“This was a one off incident and I had never heard of it before. He shouldn’t have taken the law into his own hands. He should have called the Gardaí if he thought there was an issue with the passenger and the fare.”
Mr White said that all taxi drivers undergo Garda checks.
“As drivers we are there to bring passengers home safe and I believe taxis are still the safest form of trans- port.”
Meanwhile taxi driver Okechukwu Utuke (44), of Dun na hInse, Ennis, received a two-year suspended sentence after he was found guilty of assaulting passenger Michael L’Estrange and fracturing his collarbone in a row over a € 15 fare on April 25, 2010. The case was heard over three days in Ennis.
During the case Mr L’Estrange told the jury that he had gone for a few drinks in town and left for home at around 1.30am. He said that he had started to walk but when he got to Country Pine, he “flagged” down a taxi.
He asked the driver to bring him to his home at Gort na mBlath. Mr L’Estrange said he stopped a short distance from his house as he never got a taxi directly to his home “because you don’t know who’s who”.
Mr L’Estrange said that after the car came to a halt in Gort Na mBlath, he disputed the fare of € 15, adding that it usually cost between € 7 and € 8.
The court heard that Mr L’Estrange dropped € 10 onto the front passenger seat and left the car.
He said that the driver followed him from the car, knocked him to the ground and started digging him with his fists.