Passenger jailed for attack on taxi driver in Clare

Alert DateOctober 1, 2012 Country: Ireland Address: Ennis, Co. Clare General Type: Racist violence, Racist discourse, Discrimination, Hate crime Racism and discrimination phenomena: Afrophobia, Nationalism, Xenophobia
Groups affected / Interested in: Migrants, Africans/black people Key socio-economic/institutional areas: Employment - labour market, Anti-discrimination, Anti-racism Hate speech/Racist Discourse Medium: Internet, Newspaper
Victims Data
Victims Nationality/Ethnic Origin Nigerian
Victims Gender Male
Victims Age 36-45
Victims Number 1
Fatalities - deaths N/A
Perpetrators Data
Perpetrators Nationality/Ethnic Origin Irish
Perpetrator Gender Male
Perpetrator Age 26-35
Perpetrators Number 1
Extremist/Organised Group Violence No

A Nigerian taxi driver reported that he was afraid to go to work after he had been assaulted unprovokedly. The passenger refused to pay the fare; he called the driver a "b****d n***er" before head-butting him in the mouth resulting in the loss of the driver's two front teeth. While the passenger was jailed on grounds of the assault and 14 previous convictions, the driver said he and the other 14 black drivers were subject to verbal racial abuse on a daily basis which made them feel unsafe: "[W]e phone each other saying ‘this is an area I am going to in case anything happens’." He continued that “passengers flag you down, open the door and when they see you are coloured, they say ‘F*** off’."

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