A Cork woman has told of her terrifying experience when the taxi in which she and her partner were travelling last weekend was attacked by a gang of youths armed with iron bars.
Karen (she did not wish to give her full name), told RED FM that they had flagged down a taxi in Cork city centre at 3.30am on Sunday.
On approaching the roundabout at Wilton the taxi was attacked by five to six teens with their heads covered by hoodies.
They appeared to be aged between 15 and 17 years, she said.
However, the taxi did not stop and the driver went around the roundabout a second time when it was attacked again with the driver’s window and back window being damaged.
Karen did not know why the driver drove around the second time as he did not have a dashcam.
When he parked, a second taxi also stopped and the driver reported that the door to her taxi had been damaged by the teens who had “run down Glasheen Road”.
Both taxi drivers then waited for gardaí while Karen and her partner decided to walk home.
“It was a very frightening experience. Wilton generally is a very quiet place. It was very scary.
“I would advise people to be wary of gangs. If I had been driving on my own, I would have crashed.”
The woman thought that the taxi driver should have brought them home as it was only five minutes away and then could have gone back to await the gardaí.
The taxi driver charged them for the journey.
“I shouldn’t have paid him, but I just wanted to go home. He didn’t ask for our details.
I don’t remember his details. He put us in danger by going around again. I don’t know why he did that.
“By going around again he was basically asking for it.
“I was bawling crying. I was petrified.”
She called on parents to make sure they know what their children are doing at night.
“I saw the face of one of them. He was no more than 14.
“People should be aware of what is going on in the area.”
