Bus driver threatened with rape by gang of teens in Cork said gardaí ‘couldn’t save her'

When driving the 220 bus route from the city centre to Carrigaline on Halloween night in 2019, a group of up to 80 teenagers blocked the bus and verbally abused the driver.

A bus driver who was threatened with rape has said “even the saviours can’t save you”, as she recounted a terrifying incident where gardaí were unable to control a crowd of teenagers surrounding her bus for more than 90 minutes.

The female driver spoke publicly for the first time about the event at the National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU) national conference in Cork.

When driving the 220 bus route from the city centre to Carrigaline on Halloween night in 2019, Andreea* said that a group of up to 80 teenagers blocked the bus and verbally abused her after she asked some of them to pay the fare.

From 9.30pm, she said that “hell came upon” her and the youths made threats “in every single possible bad way that you can imagine”, she said.

“[They said] that I’m going to be raped, that I’m going to be followed, that they’re going to hurt my family… It was really frightening.” 

“The greatest impact on my mental health [was] that even after the guards [came] — the people that are supposed to save you… — nobody had fear about them. Nothing happened.” 

'Physical and verbal abuse'

She said a Bus Éireann inspector who arrived at the scene got “physical and verbal abuse” from the teenagers and the crowd were “hitting the bus”.

“The threats, hitting the bus and everything continued even after the guards came there. So, my mental impact was so hard that even the saviours can’t save you.” 

It is understood that after gardaí arrived at the scene, they waited for up to 20 minutes for backup to clear the crowd of teenagers, some of whom were armed, and were blocking the bus. The offending teenagers were escorted onto another bus by gardaí.

The driver told delegates at the conference that An Garda Síochána conducted an investigation but “nothing was done” as all of those involved were under 18 and the main ringleader was “14 or 15”.

“I understand that it’s hard to prosecute a child — and I don’t want to ruin [anybody’s] life — but I really do think the laws [should] change,” she said.

Andreea, who moved to Ireland from Romania in 2013, said:  “I think people are getting meaner. And I’m trying to bury somewhere the experience, but every week something is happening, and it brings back [the memory].”

 The NBRU conference heard of near-death assaults from transport workers as the union, politicians and Garda union representatives renewed calls for a dedicated public transport policing unit.

*Andreea did not wish for her surname to be identified.