Pregnant woman to be sentenced for role in hijacking a taxi and assaulting driver

By Jessica Magee

A pregnant woman is to be sentenced later this month for her role in hijacking a taxi and assaulting the driver in the Phoenix Park last summer.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that the victim has not driven a taxi since the incident, during which he was choked with a seat-belt and almost lost consciousness.

Gillian Byrne (38) of St Vincent de Paul Hostel, Sean McDermott Street, Dublin 1, pleaded guilty to the unlawful seizure of a vehicle and assault causing harm on July 26, 2023.

A co-accused woman is to be sentenced next week for the same offences and the additional charge of falsely imprisoning the taxi-driver.

At a hearing yesterday, the court heard that Byrne rang 999 immediately afterwards to tell gardaí about the offence and her role in it.

A prosecuting garda agreed with Mark Lynam SC, defending, that Byrne had a “passive role” in the hijacking and the assault and had not known they were about to happen.

Counsel said Byrne did not know her co-accused until that morning and had been of the understanding that they were going to the park to collect a car.

Mr Lynam said his client was very remorseful and horrified by what had happened to the taxi-driver, whom she described as a “lovely man”.

The prosecuting garda told Marc Murphy BL, prosecuting, that the taxi-driver picked up Byrne and the other woman outside the Gresham Hotel on O’Connell Street at 5.40am on the day in question.

The women got into the back of the taxi and directed the driver, who was aged in his late 60s or early 70s, towards the Phoenix Park.

The driver later told gardaí he got “a bad feeling” after the women directed him towards the magazine fort in the park and he turned the car around.

The women started shouting at him to stop and he felt one of them put something around his neck.

It is the State’s case that the co-accused put a seatbelt around the driver’s neck.

The man told gardaí he pressed the footbrake and was starting to lose consciousness, but that he managed to stumble out of the car in a disorientated state.

He said he was then either punched or kicked in the face by the co-accused and fell to the ground.

The victim said he began to shout for help and saw the women starting to panic.

A passerby came to his assistance as did a member of the gardaí who happened to be in the area.

The man was taken by ambulance to hospital suffering cuts and bruises and minor injuries.

The taxi was found later by gardaí in a different part of Dublin.

The injured party did not wish to make a victim impact statement and told gardaí it would be too traumatic for him to attend court.

Byrne phoned 999 of her own volition and was arrested, making full admissions and expressing remorse.

She has 12 previous convictions, of which one also involved the unlawful seizure of a vehicle, for which she got a four-year-suspended sentence.

Mr Lynam said Byrne also had a passive role in the previous hijacking and had been in a relationship with a co-accused man at the time.

Counsel said Byrne had requested to be sentenced separately to her co-accused in this case, and that she had allegedly been assaulted by associates of the other woman close to the court.

She is due her baby in April, the court heard.

Counsel said Byrne has a history of drug abuse but is doing quite well at the moment, according to reports from Coolmine Therapeutic Community and other services.

A psychological report outlined that Byrne has borderline cognitive functioning and was described as easily led and eager to please.

The court heard she has had a lot of trauma in her life and would benefit from residential treatment to bolster the work she is doing to tackle her addiction issues.

Byrne wrote a letter to the court expressing her horror at what happened and another letter of apology to the victim himself.

Her current partner also wrote to the court describing her as loving, caring and empathetic.

Counsel said there was an “ongoing threat” to Byrne and that it was “not a good situation” for her to be going into prison, especially while she is expecting a baby.

Judge Orla Crowe adjourned the case for finalisation on October 24.

The co-accused woman is due to be sentenced next Tuesday, October 15.