Bus driving is a dangerous job

 

A JUDGE has asked to see video evidence in the case of a 44-year-old man who allegedly swung a meat cleaver at a bus driver for refusing to stop for him.

Robert Fogarty, 44, from Cardy Rock Court, Balbriggan, in north Co. Dublin, had been charged earlier with possessing a meat cleaver as a weapon.
Dublin District Court heard that it is alleged he had the knife while travelling on a bus at Atrium Road, Dublin Airport, on the night of January 27 last.
The 44-year-old unemployed man, who has not yet entered a plea, had been granted bail in January and was due to appear again today at Dublin District Court. However, Judge Cormac Dunne heard that the man could not come to court today because he is in residential treatment.
The judge has yet to rule on whether the case is to stay in the jurisdiction of the district court or instead go forward to the Circuit Court which has wider sentencing powers. He adjourned it for mention for three weeks and said that wanted to view CCTV evidence and the bus driver's statement before deciding on the issue of jurisdiction.
A garda sergeant told the district court that it would be claimed that Mr Fogarty was highly intoxicated when he got on the bus. It was alleged that he asked the driver to pull up at a “non stop” but when the driver did not Mr Fogarty, “produced a meat cleaver from his backpack and swung it at the driver who was behind protective glass”.