Judge jails young Corkman as 'strong deterrent against assaults on taxi drivers'

The taxi driver was robbed by two passengers in Cork who struck him on the head – one with a glass rum bottle, the other with a hammer.

Judge Catherine Staines said taxi drivers "must feel safe when they pick up passengers”. 

Taxi drivers must feel safe in their work and sentences for assaults on drivers need to have a deterrent effect, a Circuit Court judge declared.

Judge Catherine Staines made this comment as she imposed a two-and-a-half-year sentence on 24-year-old Evan Crean for his part in a robbery. Judge Staines said: “There has to be a strong deterrent against assaults on taxi drivers. We all depend on them and they must feel safe when they pick up passengers.”