Man who hit a Bus Éireann driver in Ballincollig is jailed 

A 35-year-old man who hit a Bus Éireann driver in Ballincollig has been jailed for three months.

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

The evidence was that when the investigating garda approached him later that night and asked him if he carried out the assault, John Long replied, “Of course I did.”

Inspector Jason Lynch said at Cork District Court that John Long had been arrested on a bench warrant to be brought before the court for sentencing.

He said the bus driver did not wish to prepare a victim impact statement.

Inspector Lynch said the accused got a four-month jail term in the past few days at another court for engaging in threatening behaviour towards staff at a shop in Cork city centre.

Judge Marian O’Leary imposed a sentence of three months on Long for the assault on the bus driver and made it consecutive to the sentence imposed last week.

Bus driver, Dermot Murphy, said he was stopped in Ballincollig for a period on July 22 2021 before the timetable time was reached to travel on to Carrigaline.

Mr Murphy said of the accused man’s behaviour at around 11pm, “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.’”

Michael Quinlan solicitor said to the bus 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 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.”