Bus passenger fined over aggressive behaviour towards driver

A chef, who took exception to a bus driver asking for more money to fully cover a fare, was convicted and fined for being threatening and abusive in public, at Galway District Court.

Judge Mary Fahy did not accept that the driver was being offensive when he corrected the defendant for underpaying a student fare by 20c, and said that it may have been an issue of cultural differences.

“‘Hey’ is not a derogatory term, it’s used to bring something to your attention – you totally over-reacted in my view,” she told him.

Alaa Al Bataineh (40), with an address at 58 Droim Oir, Clybaun Road, had pleaded not guilty to being threatening and abusive on two separate dates in November 2016.

Ciaran Kenny, a driver with City Direct Bus, told the court that he was operating the 412 service, along the Western Distributor Road to Eyre Square, on November 14 when he approached the bus stop opposite Clybaun Stores where there were up to eight people waiting.

“The defendant boarded, showed me a student ID card and put €1.30 in the chute – I informed him that the fair structure had changed (some months earlier), and that it was now €1.50 for a student,” he recalled.

“He started shouting and abusing me, he told me to f**k off, that I was a racist. He was very aggressive, and I felt threatened. I asked him to calm down… he slammed the 20c into the chute.”

Mr Kenny, who worked as a taxi driver in Dublin for 13 years, said that this was unfortunately a common occurrence now in his role as a bus driver in Galway.

In the interests of the passengers who were upset, he decided to let the defendant remain on the bus. When he got back to the bus depot, though, he reported the matter to his boss

He was told not to let the defendant on the bus again, and to report any further incidents to Gardaí immediately.

Four days later, the same driver was operating the 411 service from the Cappagh Road to Eyre Square. A large group of passengers were waiting for him at the bus stop outside the Clybaun Hotel.

“He was one of them; I’d been told by my boss that he was not allowed on, and to call Gardaí. I told him he could not come on, he got very aggressive, he put his head well in towards me and started shouting ‘hit me… racist bastard.’

“The bus was fairly full, it’s a busy route, I stepped off the bus while waiting for Gardaí. I was very upset, these are ongoing incidents, I am off work sick from another incident.

“It’s not what you want in a work day. I worked 13 years as a taxi driver in Dublin … this was a very frightening experience.”

When Garda Micheál Murphy arrived on the scene at 1.20pm he met both parties. A female passenger came forward to make herself known, but did not wish to make a statement.

“The driver said that the male had been roaring at him; he pushed him away as he was worried for his own safety,” he told the court.

The defendant, a Jordanian national, said that he had been training to be a chef in GMIT at the time, and had often caught the bus, but only ever paid €1.30.

“I’d have paid more if I’d known,” he said.

“He (the driver) started shouting and screaming at me. He was very rude.”

He took offence that the driver had said something along the lines of “hey, hey, hey, come back” to him.

Before the prosecution had the opportunity to question the witness, Judge Fahy short-circuited things by telling the defendant that he had over-reacted. She said that cultural differences may have been to blame, and explained that ‘hey’ was a commonly used word in Ireland to catch someone’s attention.

“I don’t think that the driver meant to insult you, and you totally over-reacted – I don’t accept your evidence,” she told him.

She further said that the injured party, who had had years of experience dealing with the public as a taxi driver in Dublin, would not have called the Gardaí for no good reason.

She convicted the defendant, imposing a €250 fine for the first incident, along with €50 in witness expenses. The second matter was marked proven.