Taxi driving dangers
Sign of the times as cab driver victim quits job
A West Belfast taxi driver whose car was attacked by youths with bricks last Wednesday says he is now out of a job because he refuses to display his employers’ company name on his vehicle.
Patrick O’Neill had previously asked if he could display his own ‘Taxi’ sign on the roof of his car while working, rather than a sign identifying the firm he works for.
Earlier in his career, Patrick was the victim of a stabbing and numerous sectarian threats.
His determination to carry an anonymous taxi sign, along with his PSV plates, increased two weeks ago, when his employers, Minicabs on the Suffolk Road, received a threatening phone call warning them not to send drivers to the Suffolk estate.
In a week in which two other taxi drivers were attacked in West Belfast, Patrick drove on to the Stewartstown Road, yards from the Suffolk estate, where his car was attacked by youths who threw bricks at it. They hit the side door and roof of the Ford Mondeo, causing hundreds of pounds worth of damage.
A teenage schoolgirl who was in the back seat was shaken but uninjured.
Patrick informed the police of the incident, but claims he was told they were unable to attend the scene because there were no police cars available at Woodbourne station.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “They’re sitting idle in cars in other parts of West Belfast, and when an actual crime happens, they can’t come minutes down the road to investigate it.”
However, the PSNI say they have no record of Patrick attending Woodbourne station and added that they would never claim to have no cars available.
Patrick said Wednesday night’s attack made him feel “extremely uneasy”, but on Thursday he was again refused permission to display a generic taxi sign on his car. He has not worked since. His wife Michelle says she doesn’t want to see him go out again with the Minicabs sign displayed, but feels very concerned about his lack of employment. “I’m a freelance merchandiser but I don’t get much work in July and August, so I’m worried about Patrick not having any work either. I don’t feel the situation is fair.”
Minicabs owner Michael O’Neill told the Andersonstown News: “This is a driver who left Apollo Cabs because he wasn’t able to display his own sign, and when he came to us at the outset he was told that he would not be able to do that here either.
“On Wednesday, I spoke for Patrick at Woodbourne PSNI station, asking why, when there is an army jeep outside Andersonstown barracks protecting workers there, can they not come to the scene of an actual crime in which one of our drivers’ cars was attacked?
“With regard to identification, though, cars from other firms were attacked last week – not just ours, and a couple of weeks ago our wheelchair-friendly cab had its window smashed on the Springfield Road, a Catholic area.
“It will happen everywhere at this time of the year, and having spent £4,000 on taxi signs, I am not prepared to let them go to waste. This is our policy that we made clear from the start. It is also done at the request of the Falls Women’s Centre, who demanded company signs on taxis in response to an increasing number of women reporting attacks by illegal drivers.”
Journalist:: Staff Reporter
