A man who had hired a taxi to bring him and his family from Dublin to Galway attempted to avoid paying the €250 fare by bringing the driver around the town to confuse him and then fleeing across the race course, the Galway District Court heard yesterday.
Janusz Glowacki (21 ) with an address at 14 Merlin Park Lane, Galway, pleaded guilty to attempting to dishonestly avoid payment of €250 after obtaining the services of Gerard Murphy.
Inspector Pat McHugh told the court that on March 2, 2009, at 4am the defendant, his partner, and their three children had hired a taxi to take them from Dublin to Galway. When they arrived at Gleann Na Ri, Merlin Park, the occupants got out of the taxi and entered a building but the defendant got in the car again and brought the driver around the town. When the taxi got to the Tuam Road the defendant suddenly got out, jumped across the vehicle, and ran across the race course.
Glowacki, a Polish national, was then seen by gardai in the vicinity of Galway courthouse last Tuesday as his female accomplice had been before the court. Inspector McHugh then explained that Glowacki seemed to believed that the taxi driver was unfamiliar with Galway and would be lost if driven around the town, however, the driver had lived in the city before and knew exactly where he had left the defendant and the location of the Garda station.
The court then heard that Glowacki’s “partner in life and partner in crime” had paid €250 for the fare owed to Mr Murphy and that Glowacki has no previous convictions.
“He is particularly more culpable than his partner as he brought the taxi driver around the town for fun so he would get lost and wouldn’t be able to find him,” said Judge Mary Fahy. She then convicted and fined the defendant €500 with three months to pay.
