'He climbed on top of me while I was driving' Taxi driver sexually assaulted by 4 men while working

‘He climbed on top of me while I was driving’ Taxi driver sexually assaulted by 4 men while working

Cork, Ireland — A female taxi driver is still seeking justice over a sexual assault incident that happened five years ago.

The driver, known only as Shirley, shared her tragic experience over a local radio station after listening to other drivers talking about their violent encounters.

According to her, she was driving around 4:30 a.m to pick up four male passengers at the Kinsale.

One guy apparently sat beside her on the front seat and the other three at the backseat. Shirley explained that they were a rowdy group. At some point in the trip, however, the man sitting in the front began stripping, followed by another man in the back.

“All I could think was ‘just keep driving, don’t stop’,” she told the news station. “How I kept driving I’ll never know but I just thought to myself ‘keep going to where there is camera.’”

The group then threatened to take the car off her. Meanwhile, the man at the front allegedly assaulted her and put her in danger during the journey.

“He kept climbing on top of me while I was driving. The car was all over the road, but I just kept moving my head to see where I was going,” she said.

The taxi driver claims that the rest of the group “were just laughing, they thought it was fierce funny”.

Shirley feared that she would be gang-raped and murdered by these men. But fortunately, she managed to drive to a safe location outside of a hotel and the men left her taxi.

“When I was telling them to get out, three of them got out and a small guy came round and said ‘is that the worst thing that has ever happened to you?’, and I just took off,” Shirley said. “He thought it was a great thing. I don’t think they cared one bit.”

As soon as she got home, she contacted the Garda Station to report the incident. A detective then went to visit the hotel where the men dropped off but learned that they have already fled.

Furthermore, when they contacted the hotel for surveillance footage, the establishment claims that they don’t have enough evidence.

“The man in the hotel knew who they were. One guy stole my glasses and I phoned the hotel to get their names and he said they had left my glasses there and obviously the porter knew who they were.”

Shirley also revealed that a medal have fallen off when the front passenger took off his clothes. Investigators then took her cab and found the medal.

“The medal had his fingerprints on it, they had the medal. We go through so much and nothing’s done about it,” Shirley stated. “As far as I know, they know where in Wales they are living.”

The authorities have already warned her that her case would be a long process. However, she is determined to pursue her case.

“I’m not leaving it go, I can’t. I’d still like some closure.”

The traumatic experience impacted on her career and well-being.

Shirley claims that after the incident, she stopped working as a taxi driver. She recently started a school run, however, she claims to still suffer from panic attacks when picking passengers off the streets.

“Now, I’ve had plenty of counseling but I just want them to be punished for what they’ve put me through,” Shirley said.

She ended by letting people know what taxi drivers have to go through sometimes while working.

“We put up with so much; sometimes the guards don’t understand we’re out there, we’re getting drunk people home, saving people getting into arguments.”