Taxi attacks at Bishop Street

In the latest spate of attacks over the weekend one taxi driver narrowly escaped injury when two rocks were hurled at his vehicle in Bishop Street.

The attack took place at around 9pm as the driver made his way back through Bishop’s Gate towards the city centre having dropped off a fare.

The driver’s windscreen was smashed and he said the missile appeared to come from above his car. Another rock went through the driver’s window, striking him on the shoulder. He managed to keep control of the car and made his way to the police station to report the incident.

Whilst the taxi driver involved has said they believe the attacks were sectarian and were launched from the Fountain Estate, these claims have been dampened by reaction from within the estate.

Jeanette Warke from the Cathedral Youth Club said she “wasn’t sure” if the attacks were sectarian.

“Nobody likes to see an attack like that happening, but we don’t know where these people came from, they could be from anywhere.

“They could be young people running the walls, as they do, so I don’t know whether we should label it as sectarian,” she said.

However, Andrew McCartney of the North West Taxi Proprietors Association said the most significant of the attacks was ‘attempted murder’ and pointed the blame towards people from the Fountain.

“You fire a breeze block from a height onto the top of a vehicle, and you have the potential to kill someone.

“I think it’s about time the community in the Fountain stood up and stopped people from doing this,” he said.

MP for Foyle, Mark Durkan strongly condemned the attacks: “Yet again we have had a number of disgraceful attacks on taxi drivers who are providing a vital service to the local community.

“Thankfully in these cases only minor injuries were sustained by the drivers-but nevertheless it was only by good fortune that more serious injuries were avoided.

“We all know what could have happened should any of the taxi drivers have been injured or incapacitated whilst their vehicles were in motion.”

Mark Durkan also urged anyone with information on the incidents to contact the police and called for community unity against more attacks.

A spokeswoman for the PSNI highlighted that there have been sporadic incidents of this nature in the area over the past 12 months most of which could be attributed to anti-social behaviour or general criminal damage.

With regard to the allegations that the attacks were sectarian the spokeswoman said: “If the victim perceives this to be sectarian then we follow up on that line of enquiry.”