A 26-year-old woman who tried to make off without paying a €200 taxi fare and who was threatening and abusive to the driver and gardaí, was given a suspended sentence at Ballina District Court this week.
Garda Michael Flaherty outlined that he was called to the Urban District Car Park, Newline, Ballina at 8.25am on Saturday December 6, after Timothy Glynn, a taxi driver from Galway, reported that Lisa O’Connor with an address at 21 Fearnog, Shannon, Co Clare had tried to make off without paying after he brought the defendant from Loughrea to Ballina.
Garda Flaherty told the court that the defendant was threatening and abusive and was heard shouting to the taxi driver: “You only called the gardaí as I wouldn’t give you a f***ing blow job,” and also told Garda Flaherty to “f**k off”.
The taxi driver explained to the garda that earlier in the night he had brought O’Connor from Galway city to Loughrea and at 6am received a call from the defendant asking him to bring her from Loughrea to Ballina. Mr Glynn explained that the fare would be €200 and O’Connor agreed to pay it — she told him that she had €100 on her and that a friend in Ballina would pay the remainder. The garda also told the court that on the same night O’Connor was arrested by gardaí in Loughrea, but could not give further details if she was convicted for these offences.
Solicitor Peter Flynn said that the defendant was still not in a position to pay for the fare and has “a sad history” of psychotic and addictive problems — with the defendant having attended St John of God’s in Dublin and with her mother looking after her five-year-old son. According to Mr Flynn, the defendant is currently staying with her friend’s brother in Ballina; this friend told Judge Mary Devins during court proceedings that he would reimburse the taxi driver’s fare.
Judge Devins commented that O’Connor has a “chaotic lifestyle”, before she convicted the defendant, for the section eight offence, to three months imprisonment which she suspended for 12 months. The section six public order offence was taken into consideration.
