Garda alert after woman raped in taxi
Tuesday July 08 2008
A Dublin woman was raped by her taxi driver as she was being brought home after a night out in the city.
The sex attack occured as the woman was being taken to her home in Donabate.
In a second incident, a terrified passenger fled a taxi after her driver sexually assaulted her as she was being taken to the Aisling Hotel near Heuston Station
The National Taxi Drivers Union (NTDU) has issued a warning to passengers travelling alone late at night to be careful and to take precautions.
Gardai are investigating the rape and the alleged sexual assault which are not thought to be related.
The incidents occurred within two weeks of each other and are believed to involve foreign national drivers.
In the early hours of last Monday, a woman was travelling in a taxi in the Donabate area when she was raped.
A garda spokesperson has confirmed that officers from Swords garda station are investigating "a serious sexual assault".
The second attack took place during a journey from Dublin city centre to the Aisling Hotel near Heuston Station. The Herald understands that the woman was picked up at Connolly Station and asked to be brought to Heuston Station.
She claims that on her way to the hotel, the male driver groped her leg in a sexually aggressive manner. When the taxi driver pulled over, the woman immediately ran into the hotel and called gardai. She was said to be left in an extremely distressed state.
The man has been questioned by gardai on more than one occasion in relation to this incident but is believed to be protesting his innocence.
In light of the incidents, Ellen O'Malley-Dunlop, Chief Executive of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) said that, while she didn't want all taxi drivers to be tarnished with the same brush, similar incidents have happened in the past.
President of the National Taxi Drivers' Union (NTDU) Tommy Gorman has also warned all passengers to take precautions when using taxis, particularly when alone.
Although he cannot comment on the specific incidents, he has urged passengers to always ask for a receipt as a way of tracing their driver.
"People using taxis should be conscious of the fact that we've a saturated market," he said.
Ms O'Malley-Dunlop added: "Everybody should have numbers keyed into their phones that can be called by just pressing a button." And she urged that one of those numbers be the DRCC freephone number 1800 77 88 88.
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