Probe after teen threatens Dublin Bus passenger with screwdriver

The incident, which was filmed and widely circulated on social media earlier in the week saw a teenager threaten the passenger before brandishing a screwdriver and a pair of vice grips. File picture: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ie

Gardaí have said they are investigating an incident which saw a passenger being threatened with a screwdriver on a Dublin Bus route. 

The incident, which was filmed and widely circulated on social media saw a teenager threaten the passenger before brandishing a screwdriver and a pair of vice grips. 

The video has been viewed some 11 million times on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

The teenager uses homophobic and xenophobic slurs before threatening to use the weapon in the video. 

He then tries to grab the phone that is recording the incident, demanding that the passenger stop filming. He then continues threatening and taunting the passenger again. 

Gardaí have said they are investigating all of the circumstances surrounding the incident and said they are aware of a video circulating online and through direct messaging apps.

Dublin Bus said it is aware of the footage.

“We are conducting an internal investigation, and can confirm that we are providing assistance to An Garda Siochana in relation to this incident,” a spokesperson said.

It comes following repeated calls for transport police here. Those calls intensified earlier this week after a bus driver was assaulted on the 343 Limerick to Shannon route following an incident of alleged assault.

The male driver, in his 40s, sustained cuts to his face and a black eye after two men allegedly assaulted him during an argument while the bus was stopped on Limerick City’s William Street.

The NBRU general secretary Dermot O’Leary said the incident underlines the importance of Ireland getting its own transport police.

He added that his members have been campaigning for a dedicated unit to tackle anti-social and violent behaviour on trains and buses for over a decade.