Taxi Driver Online

3 Mar 2008

Bedside vigil for injured cabbie

A taxi driver is in a stable condition in hospital after sustaining horrific
injuries when a brick was thrown through his windscreen.



Jackie Anderson, from Newtownards, was driving along the Portaferry
Road on Saturday when it is thought people in another car threw a brick.

It smashed the windscreen and he suffered bad head and facial injuries. It
was the third such incident within hours. He now faces constructive
surgery.

A car behind the taxi was also hit with a brick, and there was a similar
attack on a woman driver on the road.

The woman escaped injury more than an hour earlier when a group of
youths threw a bottle at the car she was driving about two miles outside Portaferry.

Mr Anderson's daughter's partner, Stephen Griffin, revealed he was
sedated following surgery and is in the Intensive Care Unit in the Ulster
Hospital. Mr Griffin said the family is maintaining a bedside vigil, adding: "
He's lucky to be alive."

The taxi driver, a father of three in his 40s, was making his way to
Portaferry when a brick was thrown from a car travelling in the opposite
direction. The brick smashed through the windscreen of his green
Mercedes, striking him in the face. The incident occurred close to the
junction of the Loughdoo Road.

Police have confirmed that about an hour prior, a female motorist had a
bottle hurled at her car from an on-coming vehicle. She was left shaken.

Mr Griffin added: "According to police, this seems to be some sort of new
craze in the area where people are throwing missiles at cars."

Assembly member Kieran McCarthy said Saturday was not the first time
such attacks have happened. He said the incident was a "murderous
attack on a completely innocent motorist".

Anyone with information should call 0845 600 8000

Source: Belfast Telegraph
----------
Disclaimer
These press articles are intended for informational purposes only.
Statements and opinions expressed in these articles are solely those of the original Publisher.
I cannot guarantee the accuracy of any of these articles, and therefore I am not liable for any information contained therein.
Where possible, the Publisher and the source are documented within each article.
Any author that holds legal copyright, and objects to their material being posted, may request that it be removed and any future material excluded.

10 Mar 2008

Fresh appeal over Ards brick attack

AN appeal was launched by police at the weekend for fresh witnesses after
a spate of potentially deadly "bricking" attacks on cars in the Ards Peninsula.

Dominic Lennon, who suffered cuts to his head when a brick was hurled
through his windscreen on Wednesday, was the fifth victim in the area in
the past week.

Police set up checkpoints at the Deerpark Road on Saturday and stopped
motorists to appeal for help.

The attack on Mr Lennon came just days after taxi driver Jackie Anderson
was put in intensive care with serious facial injuries after a brick was
thrown though his windshield from a passing car on the Portaferry Road last Saturday.

An hour earlier, a woman escaped injury when a group of youths threw a
bottle at the car she was driving near Portaferry.

Mr Anderson, who is a taxi driver, is now undergoing reconstructive
surgery for the injuries sustained in the attack.

The windscreen of Mr Lennon's car was smashed, but he managed to pull
over at the entrance to Mount Stewart.

Blood

His wife Deborah, who had been driving in front of him at the time of the
attack, found her husband with blood streaming from his head.

Two similar attacks were also reported last week.

Local councillor Joe Boyle said he believed the attacks are the work of the
same people and it has been reported police have rigged devices in the
area to record number plates in a bid to catch the attackers.

A police spokesman said: "We want to warn people involved in this kind of
reckless behaviour of the potentially fatal consequences of their actions,
and have renewed our appeal to the public for help in tracing those responsible."

Source: Belfast Newsletter
----------
Disclaimer
These press articles are intended for informational purposes only.
Statements and opinions expressed in these articles are solely those of the original Publisher.
I cannot guarantee the accuracy of any of these articles, and therefore I am not liable for any information contained therein.
Where possible, the Publisher and the source are documented within each article.
Any author that holds legal copyright, and objects to their material being posted, may request that it be removed and any future material excluded.