Taxi driver accused of biting part of passenger’s thumb is acquitted

A taxi driver accused of biting off part of a passenger’s thumb after the passenger made fun of his name has been acquitted by a jury.

Lookman Kareem told the jury he has no idea how the passenger lost part of his thumb and said he was acting in self defence during a struggle with the complainant. He said he was being attacked by a group of passengers and that a passerby dressed as Santa Claus tried to intervene.

It was the State’s case that Mr Lookman became very angry when the group he picked up saw his Christian name on his taxi ID and began laughing because “Look, man” was a sort of catchphrase of one of the women in the group.

Mr Kareem (48) of Glenvara Park, Knocklyon, Dublin, had pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assault causing harm to Darren O'Connor at Richmond Hill, Rathmines, on December 22, 2013. A jury acquitted him after about 40 minutes deliberations.

During the trial, Mr O’Connor told Elva Duffy, prosecuting, that he and three friends flagged down Mr Kareem’s taxi at about 1.15am.

He said they saw the accused’s name and started laughing and slagging one of his friends because she often used the phrase “look, man”.

He said Mr Kareem seemed upset and that they tried to explain they were not making fun of him. Mr O’Connor said the group became concerned about the accused’s attitude and asked him to pull over.

Verbal dispute

There was a verbal dispute and one of the group went to take down his details from the taxi ID. Mr O’Connor alleged Mr Kareem tried to move the ID.

They got out of the car and Mr O’Connor said he and the accused got into a physical struggle and fell to the ground. The witness said he felt an agonising pain and realised that part of his thumb had been bitten off and was on the ground.

Mr Kareem told gardaí that before the incident the group was passing his ID around and taking photos of it. He alleged when he told them they were not allowed handle his ID, they replied: “This is our country – we can say what we want, we can do what we want. Go back to your own country if you don’t like it.”

Mr Kareem alleged he was then dragged out of the taxi by three of the passengers, who punched and kicked him while he was on the ground. He said a male passenger punched him to the head and jaw while some passersby, including a man dressed as Santa, tried to stop it.