Man convicted of assault on Cork bus driver

A Bus Éireann driver was assaulted by a passenger in Ballincollig and when a man fitting the description of the assailant was asked on the night if he carried out the assault he replied: “Of course I did.”

John Long, 35, who is living at a Simon Community facility called J&A on Anglesea Street, failed to show up for the case against him at Cork District Court.

Judge Marian O’Leary heard the evidence in the case which was listed for hearing. The judge convicted John Long of assault in his absence from court and issued a bench warrant for his arrest so that he could be brought before the court for sentencing.

Bus driver, Dermot Murphy, said he was stopped in Ballincollig for a period that night before the timetable time was reached to travel on to Carrigaline.

Mr Murphy said of the accused man’s behaviour at around 11pm on July 22, 2021: “He squared up to me. He hit me in the face with his right hand to the left side of my face.

“I said, ‘You have made a big mistake. The guards are on the way.’”

Cross-examining, Michael Quinlan solicitor said to the bus driver: “You are saying you are still on your route even though you are stopped.” Mr Murphy said, “This is just semantics.”

Mr Quinlan said to the driver that he had a conversation with the passenger about fares. Mr Murphy said, “I did. I never expected the man to assault me on the night but he did…

“He was never aggressive to me before — I gave him the benefit of the doubt even though I knew he was an aggressive person.”

Mr Quinlan said the defendant claimed that he (the bus driver) called him (Long) a paedophile. Mr Murphy said he never said such a thing to the defendant.

Garda Sinéad O’Riordan arrived at the scene and got a description of the accused. She later encountered John Long nearby at 11.45pm.

He said that he had been on the bus.

Garda O’Riordan cautioned and questioned him: “Did you hit a bus driver?”

He replied: “Of course I did.”

Asked why, John Long replied: “Because he called me a paedophile. What he said was wrong. He shouldn’t have said it.”

Judge O’Leary said: “On the basis of the evidence before the court I convict him.”

The judge issued a warrant for Long’s arrest in the case that was prosecuted by Inspector Jason Lynch.