A taxi-driver who refused to take an 89-year-old wheelchair-bound woman, claiming ramps to enable her to get into his specially adapted vehicle had been stolen, was fined £150 yesterday.
Desmond O'Connor, of Brookhaven Rise, Blanchardstown, Dublin, pleaded guilty to refusing to take Ms Anne Steevens and her sister, Ms Vera Ormsby (85), without reasonable excuse from the O'Connell Street rank last August 12th.
Garda John Keyes of the Carriage Office told Dublin District Court that the two women were waiting at the rank for a wheelchair-accessible taxi and were at the front of the queue when O'Connor arrived. He went to others in the queue, but Ms Ormsby said they were next.
"The driver replied that they were not, and when Ms Ormsby insisted they were, he said he had no ramps, that they had been stolen," Garda Keyes said. O'Connor then picked up the other people and drove off.