Cork city neighbourhood terrorised by speeding young bikers

An 89-year-old woman, who was injured in a fall caused by speeding motorbikes, has said she and her Cork city neighbours are afraid to leave their homes because of the constant presence of the bikes.

Neighbours in the northside area have had their car and home windows broken for reporting the reckless driving to gardaí, her daughter said, which was why they wished to remain anonymous.

The elderly woman told The Echo of the day she got injured: “I’d waited all day for the bikes to be gone from outside.

“At around half six, it was quiet, so I thought they must be gone for their tea, I could take the dog for a little walk.”

While out talking to a neighbour, two scrambler bikes drove past her at speed, one on either side of her but moving in opposite directions.

Caused woman to fall

This frightened the dog, who turned and pulled the woman off her feet, causing her to fall.

She recalled: “I could see myself going, but I couldn’t grab onto anything, it happened so fast. I felt all the air going out of me.”

She landed on her left side, but ended up face down with her arms above her head and legs sprawled out beside her. The scrambler bikes carried on, speeding up and down either side of her while she was on the ground.

“There wasn’t one part of my body that wasn’t hurting.”

The neighbour helped her up, and rang the woman’s daughter, who said that her mother told her: “I thought it was the last breath coming out of me.”

The woman, who will be 90 this summer, was taken to urgent care, then the emergency department at the Mercy University Hospital, and was badly bruised. Her arm was put in a sling and she is receiving continued medical care.

Her daughter told The Echo that the scramblers are an ongoing issue, creating huge noise and fear, speeding past within a foot of people. 

“They have the neighbourhood held ransom."

The riders are usually between 14 and 17, but sometimes as young as 10, she said, and usually wear “intimidating” balaclavas.

'Somebody is going to be killed'

“Somebody is going to be killed” by the scramblers, she said, such as young children who play in the area.

When she reported the scramblers to gardaí, some were supportive, but one said: “How can we catch them? They go too fast.” Since the incident, the woman said that she isn’t able to hold the dog lead and her walking stick, due to her injuries, but mostly she is scared: “I’m afraid to go out now.”

“It’s very sad to think the only outlet I have is gone. I feel nervous even around the house now, in case I trip.

“They don’t care who they hurt; we are in their way, that is their attitude. The kids don’t care once they’re getting a kick, and the gardaí make you feel like you’re the nuisance, not the bikes.

“The neighbours in this area are lovely, but we don’t get to have a chat anymore, because they’re all afraid to go out.” Neighbours have had their car and home windows broken into for reporting the behaviour to gardaí, her daughter said. 

“If they’re out in this weather wearing balaclavas, you know they’re up to no good and don’t want to be identified."

Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould, said: “Speaking to that lady, it was so close to being a tragedy. Must someone else die for gardaí to have a zero-tolerance policy for scramblers?

“It’s happening every night, right across the city, and in a lot of situations the gardaí know who they are, but nothing is done.

“When Grace’s law came in, residents were hopeful that this would be the end of it, but it’s worse the situation has got: It seems someone will be killed in Cork before these people are tackled.”