Driver pulled from her taxi after Carrigaline fare

A TAXI driver who picked up two young men and a woman in Cork city was pulled from her car near Carrigaline by one of the men who then drove off and later abandoned the taxi.

The driver, Faith Aturu, picked up the fare at Grand Parade at about 3am on April 7, 2010, Inspector Mary King told Cork District Court yesterday.

Ms Aturu was asked to drive to Carrigaline, where the young woman asked to be let out. The two remaining male passengers said they would pay the full fare.

They then asked the taxi driver to bring them a short distance along the Upper Kilmoney Road, where they indicated that they wanted to get out.

“They stood out on the road beside the taxi and fiddled in their pockets as if they were about to pay before they both ran away,” Insp King said.

She said the taxi driver went back to where she left the woman. When she found the woman and said she was going to phone the gardaí, the men returned.

One of the men caught Ms Aturu, pulled her out of the taxi and drove away in it. The second man was not in the car at this stage. This man, Stephen O’Regan, aged 23, of Brookwood, French Furze, Carrigaline, pleaded guilty to failing to pay a fare of €30. He was not charged in relation to any other part of the events.

Judge Tim Lucey said to O’Regan: “This is a very serious incident, the whole thing. You are only charged with not paying the fare. That seems potentially the least of your difficulties. However, you are not charged. That is not for me to go into. That is for the Director of Public Prosecutions.”

O’Regan said he and the other man later went to the cab base and offered to pay €30 for the fare but were told not to as the matter was a matter for the gardaí.

Judge Lucey convicted and fined O’Regan €100 for failing to pay the fare.