Courts / Dublin / Report

Taxi driver allegedly bit man's thumb after name caused laughter with passengers

Date
2016-04-13

Stage
Sentence

Primary locality
Dublin

County
Dublin

Summary

In a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court hearing, taxi driver Lookman Kareem was accused of biting off part of Darren O'Connor's thumb after passengers laughed at his name. O'Connor and his girlfriend Noelle Donohue were in a taxi to Rathmines with Donohue's sisters Stacey and Helena. Stacey giggled when she saw Kareem's first name on his taxi plate, prompting other passengers to join. Kareem allegedly shouted abusive remarks, punched Donohue in the nose, and struck her twice after the group left the vehicle. O'Connor claimed Kareem grabbed his leg, causing him to feel excruciating pain and lose the top of his thumb. O'Connor ran to a pub for ice, collapsed, and was taken to St James's Hospital for surgery. Defence barrister Conor McKenna denied the assault allegations, asserting the passengers were not laughing at Kareem's name. The case remains before Judge Patricia Ryan and a jury.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Taxi driver allegedly bit man's thumb after name caused laughter with passengers. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

December 22, 2013 Incident
Christmas Incident
2016-04-13 Publication

Case subjects

Lookman Kareem

Defendant

Outcome: Mr O'Connor told the court he and his friends were not laughing at Mr Kareem's name, but at the fact that Stacey Donohue regularly starts sentences with the phrase, "Look man…" "We tried to say to [Mr Kareem], 'We're not laughing at you'," Mr O'Connor said. "We were trying to say it was Stacey's phrase." Defence barrister Conor McKenna BL put it to Mr O'Connor that he and his friends were abusive to Mr Kareem and that two of the women told him, "This is our f***ing country, we can do what we like".